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Posts Tagged ‘green building’
Schools: Design Effects Performance
June 9th, 2010
If you remember, last week I wrote a post on the health and learning benefits attributed to green schools. I asked, is it that unrealistic to build green schools in rural areas, and can it be obtained by those who don’t have a lot of money to throw around?
I wanted to expand the statistics found in my last post. Air Quality Sciences, Inc interviewed 667 executives involved in green and traditional educational facilities and this is what they had to say.
- 75% thought green schools cost less over 20 years, but only 50% said that total lifecycle costs are considered when planning a new building.
- The average age of schools before a major renovation is 42 years. 50% of our schools are over 45 years old, 30% are over 60 years old and 21% are 60-50 years old.
- Green schools will cost less to operate over the first 20 years and their lifetime than traditional schools. This is a great opportunity for school districts to get some money back on their investment
- 74% thought that the greatest obstacle to building green schools was a higher construction cost (an average of $3/square foot).
- 67% said that there is not enough awareness about the benefits of green schools.
I think we now all understand the tremendous benefits of green schools for our students, teachers, and administrators, but not every district can afford a new building and I believe that doing something, no matter how small, is better than doing nothing. This led me to seek out information on what others can do to improve the buildings they already have.
A study found in the book Green Schools: Attributes for Health and Learning focused on rural high schools in Virginia. School personnel surveyed the building based on topics, ranging from thermal comfort to the condition of the flooring and the color of the walls, in order to rate the building as substandard, standard or above standard. The study found that there was a significant difference in student performance from students in substandard buildings compared to their peers in above standard buildings. And, the students said the building’s cosmetics, like the condition of the floors and the color of the walls, were more important than the structure of the building.
Teachers from two similar elementary schools in rural Tennessee reported that students in the modern school had a lower level of discipline and health issues and a higher attendance rate than students in a building from 1939.
These results are great news for rural schools that are feeling the pinch, but want to do some upgrading. While more sunlight, better heating and cooling systems, and rain water reuse programs are great, brightly colored walls can make a huge difference on the way people perceive a room. Nicer furnishings and classrooms also solicit more respect from students.
I want to leave you with a video I found to be truly inspiring. Imagine how much happier the world would be if all our students got to study in a place like this, and all of our office and retail buildings had these great characteristics.
Manassas Park Elementary School from Chesapeake Bay Program on Vimeo.
Tags: education, green building, Rural, rural communities
Posted in education, Quality of Life, Rural | Comments (2)
Building the Case: Greening Our Schools
June 4th, 2010
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
Posted in education, Quality of Life, Rural, Rural Life, Uncategorized | Comments (0)
Green neighborhoods
June 12th, 2009
How “green” is your neighborhood? A new LEED certification program for Neighborhood Developments (ND) will help communities figure that out.
As many are aware, the Rural Learning Center has been developing a LEED platinum Conference and Training Center in Howard, SD. The LEED certification program uses levels (platinum, gold, silver, and certified) to help people understand how “green” a building is. This new guide will focus on neighborhoods.
I haven’t spent much time thinking about how green our rural communities are or if this rating system works for rural places. I do, however, like that the guide takes walkability and historic preservation into consideration. It would be fun to hear what others, who know more, have to say.
The plan is in its pilot stage, and the US Building Council is calling for public comment.
I became aware of the guide because the National Trust for Historic Preservation is requesting people to comment on the need to strengthen some preservation aspects to the guide. To learn more, check out this blog post.
But, if you want to comment, don’t wait long. You only have until Sunday, June 14th.
Photo Credit: Udall Legacy Bus Tour/Flick
Resources:
- US Building Council’s LEED website
- The latest version of LEED Neighborhood Development
- Playbook for Green Building + Neighborhoods (a guide for local governments)
- “The Main Street Approach” (by Eric Ambroson)
Tags: green building, Leed Platinum, main street, National Trust, Rural Learning Center
Posted in Community Development, Rural | Comments (2)
Rural Learning Center goes LEED Platinum
October 24th, 2008
Why would anyone build an $11.6 million LEED Platinum facility in one of the more rural parts of eastern South Dakota?
You can learn why by reading this article in the Madison Daily Leader or by going to the Rural Learning Center website
Tags: green building, Howard SD, Leed Platinum, Madison Daily Leader, Rural Learning Center, South Dakota
Posted in Community Development, Rural, Training and Events | Comments (0)