Benefits of Green Schools
Posted: October 3, 2007
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It is a fact that 20% of America goes to school every day. School buildings represent the largest construction sector in the United States — $80 billion in 2006-2008. Buildings overall are also responsible for nearly 40% of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States, a major contributor to global warming. By promoting the design and construction of green schools, we can make a tremendous impact on student health, school operational costs, test scores and the environment.
According to "Greening America's Schools: Costs and Benefits 2006," it costs on average less than 2%, or about $3 per square foot, more to build a green school than to build a conventional school — and the payback occurs within one year based on energy savings alone. Green schools are environmentally sound and provide measurable benefits that impact the occupants of the building and the financial bottom line.
The green school itself also serves as a teaching tool – demonstrating to students, faculty, and parents practical ways that we can turn back the clock on global warming while creating healthier, more efficient, less costly learning environments.
Financial Benefits
- Building green offers dramatic reductions in operations and maintenance costs.
- Green schools can save $100,000 per year — enough to hire two new teachers, buy 150 new computers, or purchase 5,000 new textbooks.
- It costs less than 2% more to build a green school than to build a conventional school — and that the financial benefits are 20 times as large.
- If all new school construction and school renovations went green starting today, energy savings alone would total $20 billion over the next 10 years. When you factor in water savings, the economic savings are enormous.
Environmental Benefits
- LEED-certified green buildings are designed to use energy and water in a significantly, measurably more efficient way than conventionally designed buildings.
- LEED buildings also reduce their waste streams during construction, are built to minimize their impact on the land on which they sit and the ecosystems around them, and are built with sustainably produced, recycled and recyclable materials and products .
Student, Teacher and Societal Benefits
- Green schools are built and designed with strategies and technologies that aim to improve the quality of indoor air, which could lead to improved student health, test scores and faculty retention .
- Green schools have better lighting, temperature control, improved ventilation and better indoor air quality.
- Greening all school construction is estimated to create more than 2,000 new jobs each year from increased use of energy efficiency technologies.
Sources:
Greening America's Schools: Costs and Benefits by Greg Kats, 2006
Turner Green Building Survey, 2005
About LEED for Schools
LEED for Schools is a green building rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council for K-12 schools and higher education buildings. The rating system is designed to improve children’s health, productivity and learning capacity while also helping school buildings to be more energy efficient and resource friendly.
LEED is like a “nutrition label” for green, healthy schools so you know exactly where your children are spending their days. School buildings can earn LEED certification, which provides third-party verification that the building was designed and is operating the way it was intended to be.
The LEED for Schools Rating System emphasizes classroom acoustics, master planning, indoor air quality, mold prevention, energy efficiency and water conservation.
LEED is accompanied by a full suite of support resources, including a comprehensive LEED Reference Guide and LEED workshops focused on school construction. LEED gives school administrators, school boards, community leaders, teachers, professors, and parents the tools to have an immediate and measurable impact on the health of their children, the health of their educational system, and the health of the environment.