Economic Crunch Hits Schools Efforts to Go Green
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 05.16.08
When we recently pointed out the potential effects of a weakening economy on the growing green movement, people took notice. And it seems the pinch can already be felt in school districts as limited funds must often be spread across a variety of worthy projects, both environmentally and educationally focused.
Unfortunately, “The bottom line is, the greener it is the more expensive it is,” according to Joe Hoffman, director of maintenance and operations with Irvine Unified Schools in California.
But that's not the only problem schools face...
Because to complicate matters, Kent Ramseyer, energy manager for the Newport-Mesa School District points out that conservation programs such as delaying work hours until the afternoon or at night do not translate well in the education world either. Meaning savings that could be realized through a simple change in schedule often don’t find their way into schools from the private sector.
Fortunately there are many things that schools can be doing that often don’t cost a penny. With various schools engaged in everything from recycling programs, composting, and the creation of school gardens to putting together a student energy task force to help find ways to cut energy bills on a daily basis being just some of them. And the inaugural move-out campaign organized at NYU this weekend is another amazing example of steps that can be taken on campus to make a difference and costs little or nothing to institute.
But the simple truth is that a birds-eye view of the efforts to green America’s schools reveals they resemble much more of a patchwork quilt than the fruits of a well-designed plan. And with difficult economic times ahead I believe our next President would do well to make the creation of a more unified and funded green schools plan a priority along with the establishment of benchmarks for environmental sustainability that every school must meet.
Perhaps the folks at Greensburg High School could serve as a model. The sense of enthusiasm for rebuilding that lost school in Kansas as a beacon for sustainable school design is simply remarkable.
Check out these TH Interviews:
Randy Fulton, Principal of Greensburg High School
Tyler Schmidt, Student at Greensburg High School
via: OC Register
You're doing it wrong!
Seriously, the schools need to look at the "green" things that are going to help their bottom line and go ahead and find the money. That school should probably get the pool covers regardless of the capital cost because the payback for pool covers is probably less then a couple of years.
For THAT matter, solar pool heating systems pay themselves off in 2~4 years in SoCal. It blows my mind that I've never seen even one.
Pick the "green" that pays.
The myth that green buildings must cost more is just that, a myth. Unfortunately the myth is widely believed to be true.
I recently attended a LEED Platinum plaque award ceremony for Chartwell School in Seaside, California. Chartwell also got the highest score yet achieved under the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS): 56 points. Chartwell is a Net Zero Energy project that with some forthcoming tweaks for building O&M will generate more electricity than it consumes. It's arguably the greenest school in the USA.
The California State Architect spoke at the event. Besides praising the green features, he mentioned that perhaps the most amazing fact about the project was its cost. The average per sqft cost for a public school in California is $350 per sqft. Chartwell was built for $310 per sqft.
The Chartwell School green building project used a "whole building design" process that involved an "integrated design approach" and an "integrated team process." The process requires that design and construction professionals and building owners and key tenants work together from the very beginning, leave their egos at the door and play well together as a true team ... which presents real challenges for a design and construction industry (and professional education system) that's based upon specialist silos and - sadly often - major egos. The isolation of specialists in silos, the inability and unwillingness of key players to play well together (especially architects and engineers) is the primary reason that so many green building projects come in substantially higher than comparable non-green buildings and are green buildings that fail to achieve potential synergies between building elements.
The real key to both lowering costs and maximizing results for green building projects is finding and using professionals who are willing and able to undertake a whole building design process. There is a shortage of such professionals at the moment, a problem that needs fixing fast. The American Association of Architects (AIA) and National Architecture Accreditation Board (NAAB - certifies architecture schools) are working together to reform the practices and education of architects, an effort that needs your support. Choose design and construction teams that practice whole building design: they do exist, one good example being the 7Group,
http://www.sevengroup.com/.
For more info on whole building design,
http://www.wbdg.org/wbdg_approach.php
Green building projects that use a whole building design process can routinely achieve higher quality buildings with per sqft costs at or below what comparable non-green buildings cost. Don't settle for less!
My school district is currently evaluating wether to keep our enviornmental center because of the present economic situation. I read an article stating that it costs 200,000 annually to fund the center and our district (aproximatley 60schools elementary -high school, including 6magnets schools) recieves 250 million dollars a year for everything. I think now more than ever kids need to continue to be educated on all the great things that being outdoors can bring. It would be a truly tragicv day if that center has to close.