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Schools are at the heart of our communities; likewise, our communities play a major role in our schools. Local leadership is key to ensuring that our students attend high-performing schools that offer a nurturing learning environment and use less money on energy and water – saving taxpayer money for textbooks, computers, teacher retention and a better education for training the leaders of the next generation.

Mayors step up to the plate

The Mayors’ Alliance for Green Schools is a coalition of mayors seeking to strategically harness the leadership and creativity of community leaders across the country to promote the benefits of green schools in their cities and towns. Initiated by Mayor Manny Diaz of Miami and Mayor Greg Nickels of Seattle in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council, the Alliance recognizes that in order to provide a high-quality education for children, the school environment must be supportive of excellence. Working in conjunction with USGBC and its 79 chapter organizations, comprising a network of over 26,000 individuals, the Alliance will accelerate programs supporting the 2007 U.S. Conference of Mayors resolution calling for green schools for all children within a generation.

One cornerstone of the Alliance’s agenda involves developing joint public-private partnerships with local businesses to enable schools to implement green roofs, solar panels, recycling programs and other green features in their schools. Participating mayors will also make it a priority to develop policies and legislation that promote the construction of green schools and related projects like safe biking and walking routes for students or the use of local produce in school cafeterias. The primary goal of the new Alliance is to make green, healthy schools a national priority, starting with coordinated local efforts.

Contact us for more information on the Mayors' Alliance for Green Schools.

All about green schools

By their very nature, schools are an investment in the future, preparing the next generation of leaders and paving the way for tomorrow’s innovations. Our mayors can have an enormous impact on our nation’s goals and priorities when they unite around a common goal. This Alliance will highlight the many opportunities that exist to make our nation’s schools greener, our students and teachers healthier, and our communities stronger.

Green schools use less energy and less water. They maximize natural daylight to create a more comfortable environment that is conducive to learning. They have better acoustics and more comfortable and efficient climate control. They aim for healthier indoor air. And their natural systems, such as green roofs or solar panels, provide hands-on learning opportunities, creating a generation of "sustainability natives" who know instinctively how to make smart decisions about sustainable living.

According to "Greening America's Schools: Costs and Benefits" by Gregory Kats, green schools:

• Save an average of $70 per square foot over comparable conventional schools.
• Use 30-50% less energy.
• Use 30% less water.

» Learn more about the benefits of green schools.
» Get the stats: Read the latest green schools studies and research.
» Find out how the green schools movement is catching on where you live: Browse the green schools maps.
» View green schools videos and slideshows, see profiles of green schools and read student work in the resource library.