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Building the Case: Greening Our Schools
June 4th, 2010 by Morgan Andenas
Going to school at Howard High was pretty good. The building was built in 1969 and in fairly good shape for a building now in its 40′s; almost every classroom had a window and the library had skylights, but the temperature controls weren’t quite right and often window blinds were shut tight. I didn’t particularly enjoy the building, but it wasn’t bad and could have been much worse.
The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) says the average American spends 90% of their day indoors. Often little thought is put into how the built environment impacts our daily routine. As a socially minded architecture student, I think good buildings should enhance our daily lives and not only be available to those with a fist full of cash. I start to wonder if it really is that unrealistic to build green schools in rural areas.
Currently there are numerous schools being housed in what appear to be tin sheds or leftover trailers. When I hear that “green” schools improve the health of teachers and students, raise test scores and decrease student absences, I ask myself why our schools aren’t doing more to help our students.
The USGBC defines green schools as, “… a school building or facility that creates a healthy environment that is conducive to learning while saving energy, resources and money.”
According to Air Quality Sciences, Inc, Turner Construction, and the USGBC-Green Schools, there are many reasons why schools should be built using “green” practices.
- While average green schools cost $3/square foot more than traditional schools, many are built for the same initial cost. Look at Fossil Ridge High School as an example.
- Green schools see a $12/square foot return based on lower energy and water use, improved teacher retention and lower health care costs.
- The proportion of Americans with asthma increased 75% from 1980-1994, and children five years and younger with asthma increased by 160%.
- Carnegie Mellon reports that increased indoor air quality found in green buildings reduced asthma an average of 38.5%.
- Two Illinois school districts found that after adding cost-effective indoor air quality improvements, student attendance rose by 5%.
- A 15% reduction in absenteeism was a benefit of green schools in Washington State.
- Standardized test scores increase up to 9 percentile points when comparing students in above standard and substandard school buildings.
- Students in daylit schools progressed 20% faster in math and 26% faster in reading than their peers in non daylit schools.
- Student performance increases 5-10% when they have views out of windows.
In our rural school districts, it can be hard to find enough money for textbooks, let alone a new building. But when given the opportunity, are we providing our students and teachers with the best possible opportunities to succeed?
If the statistics I found are correct, this means our decision to build schools goes far beyond financial or environmental factors.
Stay tuned next week for a post looking at different case studies about rural “green” schools.
Photo: Howard High School in Howard, SD
Tags: children, education, green building, Rural
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