Given that so many people are moving towards having healthier homes and choosing better food, it's a wonder that schools are not higher on the priority list as an environment that could use improvement. College and university campuses have been getting a fair bit of attention for sustainability efforst, but where the younger kids are concerned, there's not much taking place, or at least not much in the public eye.
From cafeteria meals to bus exhaust, poorly ventilated hallways to harsh lighting, students face numerous challenges at school that have little to do with what is being taught or how. But dotted around the country are community groups and teachers associations who want to see the school building itself become a catalyst for learning. By implementing green building principles inside and out, some schools have begun to establish conditions where the classroom is a pleasant place to be.
The Waldorf School in Charlottesville, VA has embarked on a campaign to build a LEED Platinum educational facility. In keeping with the Waldorf philosophy, the goal is to create a healthy environment not only in terms of the physical building, but in terms of the well-being of the children and teachers who use it.
The campaign is geared not only toward building the school, but toward galvanizing a community. According to Marianne Lund, chairperson of the CWF, We are creating a school that will be a model of affordability in green design. It allows members of our community, and communities across the country to be part of a dialogue on what it means to live green.
Their goal is to raise a total of $6.2 million to complete the project, and in doing so, to increase awareness around the importance of transforming building strategies and considering a broader concept of "good" education which respects and considers how surroundings effect one's ability to learn.
Part way across the country, Twin Lakes Elementary School in Elk River, MN, is already being constructed, with the goal of achieving a LEED Gold rating. As part of their green building package, they have installed a product called SageGlass - a high-tech glass that can be tinted at the flick of a switch to reduce glare and heat without eliminating natural light and views to the outdoors.
According to Helen Sanders, SAGE's vice president of customer solutions, it takes less electricity to power and control 1,500-square-feet of SageGlass products per day than it does to power a 60-watt incandescent light bulb. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that electronically tintable window systems are capable of providing up to 40% savings on energy bills, 20% savings on operating costs, 24% reduction in peak demand, and a 25% decrease in the size of HVAC systems.
Obviously beyond simply saving electricity for lighting and A/C, this has significant benefits on kids in the classroom, for whom dim lighting and isolation can make focus difficult. These types of structural improvements hold profound potential to make learning easier, and there few more powerful ways to change the world than by helping students learn more effectively.
