This section contains information on the nature of the problem, reasons to focus on sustainable school design, and how it contributes to pollution prevention.
Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable design is the approach to creating products and services that have considered their environmental, social, and economic impacts. Schools across the country are using sustainable design principles to examine plans for retrofits and new buildings to ensure that they minimize their impact on students, staff, and the community. Energy efficiency is only one part of this complex puzzle. Sustainable design helps schools create high performance environments that insure optimal health and productivity for all. Key categories are outlined in the table below.
| Design Category | Example of Concern | Sustainable design solution |
|---|---|---|
| Indoor air quality (IAQ) | Asthma | Poor air quality is cumulative. Air-borne irritants can include dirt, dust, asbestos fibers, chemical vapors, bacteria, pest droppings, and diesel exhaust. These can trigger asthma. Design considerations need to provide adequate ventilation. Suggestions include increasing air turn over in the room or facility and evaluating the HVAC system. |
| Energy consumption | Inefficient systems | Energy Star rated efficient appliances, computers, and HVAC reduce long-term costs. Use lighting upgrades, occupancy sensors, programmable thermostats and individual controls to reduce energy consumption. Daylighting provides substantial energy savings. |
| Construction materials | Renovation & new school construction | Construction materials should be selected for their durability and their ability to be reused or recycled. Select durable, environmentally friendly roofing material can be selected that is environmentally friendly and durable. Materials with longer life expectancy minimize the volume of waste entering landfills. |
| Education materials | Expectations and behavior modification | Perhaps one of the biggest challenges for creating sustainable schools is education of the staff, parents, and students. For example, if landscaping integrates native plants, maintenance staff need to be educated so that they don't spend extra effort watering and fertilizing to keep the plants blooming out of season. |
| Water use | Excessive lavatory water use | Integrate low-flow toilets, zero-flow urinals, and faucet shut-off controls in lavatories/locker rooms. |
| Waste management | Paper consumption | Technology allows schools to distribute documents and files electronically via email, websites, and networked files. Paper-free schools not only reduce the environmental and energy costs involved with making and shipping paper but also prevents paper from entering the waste stream, which in turn reduces habitat for pests in the school. Be aware that not all families have access to computers at home. A paperless school is a terrific goal, but recognize that you may be instituting barriers to access for some students and plan accordingly. |
| Transportation | Staff and students | Not only are buses expensive to fuel, they discourage walking to school. Some districts are creating schools with walking distances for students in mind. They are encouraging carpools and bike riding. In districts where this is not possible, they are looking at alternative fuel sources for buses. |
| Community interaction | Building use | Schools need to accommodate community functions, events, and meetings and should be a source of community pride. Bicycle paths, bicycle rack,s and sidewalks should make the school readily accessible for all community members. |
| Landscaping and building envelope | New construction site analysis | Evaluate whether the site will allow for orienting the building to either maximize southern exposure (in a northern climate) or to allow prevailing wind flow through the building for ventilation. Whole building design (building envelope) encompasses the interaction of building and site. |
The above table provides only a few examples of the issues to address when designing a sustainable school. The overall objective is to minimize the energy consumption and maximize the environmental quality of the physical school in perpetuity. Additional considerations include the following:
Building construction and deconstruction are significant sources of pollutants and solid waste. Deconstruction of existing schools contributes large amounts of waste to landfills. New buildings can lead to habitat destruction, air quality concerns, pollution, and water quality issues for communities. Traditional building practices often fail to address the inter-relationships between the construction and the surrounding community.
Sustainable design promotes conservation of resources (reduce water, energy, materials, and waste), considers the entire footprint of the school, and analyzes the lifecycle of the materials used in construction.
Many school districts have changed their energy use patterns, partly due to increased costs. School districts realize that it is necessary to examine alternative design strategies for heating and cooling, consider energy efficient design, and monitor energy consumption.
Some schools are exploring local alternatives for heating and cooling their buildings (solar, photovoltaic, geothermal, or wind energy systems). These systems, once installed, can provide economic as well as environmental benefits. Downsizing systems and purchasing smaller, more efficient systems can also reduce energy costs.
Locally produced alternative energy can also help schools reduce energy expenses. There are schools around the country benefiting from their locations to install geothermal, wind, solar, photovoltaic or biomass units during construction. Some of these will be identified in the case studies section of this topic hub.
A building envelope is the physical separator between the conditioned and unconditioned environment of a building. It includes the resistance to air, water, heat, light, and noise transfer. This includes exterior contributions that reduce the impact of passive solar heat through windows.
New approaches to school landscaping have moved beyond native plant landscaping. Some schools across the country have begun managing wastewater runoff from their buildings and across their parking lots through the use of rain gardens and permeable surfaces. Rain gardens capture stormwater runoff and filter contaminants before they can enter local watersheds. Schools in large urban areas are exploring design strategies (green roofs) that take advantage of rooftops to minimize stormwater runoff and to reduce the heat island effect . Awnings or orientation of windows can also minimize heat incursion.