Green Schools

On November 21st I traveled to Boston to attend the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo. I had the opportunity to connect with industry experts and influential leaders in the green building movement, as well as take informative classes. One class in particular, dealing with schools going green, was a highly interesting and thought provoking class.

USGBC offers LEED certification for schools, these schools discussed their web site to help promote green schools, www.buildgreenschools.org. The website gives empirical evidence from case studies, project profiles, and speakers about the benefits of green schools can be for students, faculty and the environment. The site even provides resources on how one can approach school districts to take initiative and encourage more schools to be green. The benefits of green schools include environmental friendliness, hands-on learning, improved teacher retention, financial savings, and a healthy, productive environment.

In a case study “Greening America’s Schools” by Gregory Kats, all aspects of the functionality of a building are analyzed. Below are some extracts from the case study:

“Greening school design is extraordinarily cost-effective compared with other available measures to enhance student performance.” “The financial benefits of greening schools are about $70 per square foot, more than 20 times as high as the cost of going green.” “Good lighting improves test scores, reduces off-task behavior, and plays a significant role in the achievement of students.”

Check out Greentorch lighting to see our growing selection of LED lighting fixtures that are ideal in contributing to a high performance green building.

Mark Mastrandrea
LEED AP