In times of severe budget constraints how is a school to work on increasing Indoor Environmental Quality? Here are some resources for all school districts.
One resource is the US Green Building Council, a nonprofit organization, originator of the LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) rating system. The organization’s goal is to have every student in a green school in this generation. I know I’ve said it before but this is a wonderful goal, similar to putting a man on the moon, only better. With many volunteers in Green Schools Committees in most states, the USGBC is a great resource for green schools, for new construction and for renovations. A program developed here in our North Texas Green Schools Committee is Green in a Box, which contains information and Indoor Air Quality handheld testing tools in a lending library, so schools are able to check out a Green in a Box (GIB) kit that includes “7 Steps to a 21st Century Building Performance Using Your 20th Century Building”. This lending library is available to all schools, public and private, K-12 and higher education. A volunteer comes with each Green in a Box checkout. Green in a Box was developed in response to the question, “As a green building resource, what is the one thing the Committee can do to help schools with their needs?” Volunteers educate on the importance of providing a healthy place for students and staff while reducing expenses.
Volunteers are also available to speak to your group: administrators, school boards, school nurses, facilities and maintenance departments, teachers, students, PTA’s, parents, and the community to help educate on hows and whys of LEED and green schools.
A new program within the US Green Building Council is the Center for Green Schools. (I was thrilled to be invited to Washington DC to attend the formal launch of the Center for Green Schools in 2009.) The Center for Green Schools is envisioned as the resource that will help green schools become a reality. Check out the website for information.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency operates a Schools section to help schools to understand and develop IEQ programs. Their Tools for Schools program is a step-by-step aid, and their Healthy SEAT is a software program that is used to log data for IEQ programs. EPA also has student and teacher education opportunities.
Both USGBC and EPA can help schools implement green cleaning.
Many districts hire consultants when they’re in the planning stage of a project in order to help them achieve better learning outcomes by going green. However, many districts have no money for consultants yet want to go green. Here are some links as to how to obtain resources.
The EPA provides no-cost Green Schools Symposiums around the country - check their website. There is one in the planning stages for North Texas that is scheduled for April 23-24, 2012. We volunteers are working to provide scholarships for hotels for school personnel who want to attend, yet have no travel budget. Please stay tuned.
www.usgbc.org
www.centerforgreenschools.org
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/resources.html
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/pubs.html
Showing posts with label LEED. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LEED. Show all posts
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Daylight Harvesting
One of the intriguing and interesting ways to build sustainably is to use the practice of daylight harvesting or “daylighting” to light a building. As long as there have been windows, daylight has been used to light buildings, but in the era of (relatively inexpensive) electricity, good design practices went out the window, so to speak, and little attention was paid to this aspect of building design. Window placement was then determined based on what the designer was trying to do with the building’s façade, and in many cases, particularly in the 1980’s, it was fashionable to design buildings (particularly schools) without windows as it was considered to be “too distracting” to have windows. LEED has a credit for daylighting – IEQ credit 8.1.
Knowing what we know about human health, hormone production, circadian rhythms, and the various colors and intensities of daylight at different times of the year, one can assume that daylighting is important in human health, therefore in student learning.
Studies show some interesting benefits associated with the use of daylighting. Studies show students in daylit schools experience 3.2 to 3.8 fewer absent days. Studies also show students achieving higher test scores. Fewer dental caries and increased student growth are another correlation between daylighting and student health. In addition, students in daylit schools show better attention spans and better work habits. Schools also report teachers having fewer sick days when teaching in daylit schools. These are a few of the more well-known studies available on this high-performance building strategy.
Daylit buildings also offer substantial cost savings by reducing energy use. Since electrical lighting heats buildings, when lights are turned off cooling loads go down. Since commercial buildings use more cooling, on average, in the course of a year than heating (due in part to lighting, computer and human heat generation), turning off the lights realizes an immediate benefit for both lighting and mechanical systems. A second benefit is that of reduced electrical lighting, which will decrease utility bills. A third benefit of daylighting occurs when the use of HVAC is reduced; then HVAC noise is reduced. (Noise is a big issue in schools and is associated with difficulty in student learning.)
There is no one single successful strategy in the use of daylighting to achieve LEED credit 8.1. Windows should be strategically placed to provide light but not glare. Light should be bounced into areas further away from windows by the use of light shelves and/or reflective surfaces. Other methods are to use clerestory windows or skylights (skylights should be used with caution in areas prone to severe hailstorms). The use of sunshades will reduce glare while providing natural daylight. Interior lighting controls need to be used in order to maximize daylight harvesting. Use building modeling (LEED prerequisite) to determine an overall strategy for successful daylight harvesting. The use of daylight harvesting will create significant cost savings for the building owner and improved outcomes for students.
Student outcomes: http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy00osti/28049.pdf
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (research conducted by the Heschong Mahone Group, Fair Oaks, CA), Daylighting in Schools: An Investigation into the Relationship Between Daylighting and Human and Performance, 1999.
Energy usage: http://www.lightnowblog.com/2009/01/study-captures-daylightings-hvac-and-lighting-energy-savings-impacts/
Daylight harvesting strategies: http://www.inive.org/members_area/medias/pdf/Inive%5CIBPSA%5CBS05_0501_508.pdf
Knowing what we know about human health, hormone production, circadian rhythms, and the various colors and intensities of daylight at different times of the year, one can assume that daylighting is important in human health, therefore in student learning.
Studies show some interesting benefits associated with the use of daylighting. Studies show students in daylit schools experience 3.2 to 3.8 fewer absent days. Studies also show students achieving higher test scores. Fewer dental caries and increased student growth are another correlation between daylighting and student health. In addition, students in daylit schools show better attention spans and better work habits. Schools also report teachers having fewer sick days when teaching in daylit schools. These are a few of the more well-known studies available on this high-performance building strategy.
Daylit buildings also offer substantial cost savings by reducing energy use. Since electrical lighting heats buildings, when lights are turned off cooling loads go down. Since commercial buildings use more cooling, on average, in the course of a year than heating (due in part to lighting, computer and human heat generation), turning off the lights realizes an immediate benefit for both lighting and mechanical systems. A second benefit is that of reduced electrical lighting, which will decrease utility bills. A third benefit of daylighting occurs when the use of HVAC is reduced; then HVAC noise is reduced. (Noise is a big issue in schools and is associated with difficulty in student learning.)
There is no one single successful strategy in the use of daylighting to achieve LEED credit 8.1. Windows should be strategically placed to provide light but not glare. Light should be bounced into areas further away from windows by the use of light shelves and/or reflective surfaces. Other methods are to use clerestory windows or skylights (skylights should be used with caution in areas prone to severe hailstorms). The use of sunshades will reduce glare while providing natural daylight. Interior lighting controls need to be used in order to maximize daylight harvesting. Use building modeling (LEED prerequisite) to determine an overall strategy for successful daylight harvesting. The use of daylight harvesting will create significant cost savings for the building owner and improved outcomes for students.
Student outcomes: http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy00osti/28049.pdf
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (research conducted by the Heschong Mahone Group, Fair Oaks, CA), Daylighting in Schools: An Investigation into the Relationship Between Daylighting and Human and Performance, 1999.
Energy usage: http://www.lightnowblog.com/2009/01/study-captures-daylightings-hvac-and-lighting-energy-savings-impacts/
Daylight harvesting strategies: http://www.inive.org/members_area/medias/pdf/Inive%5CIBPSA%5CBS05_0501_508.pdf
Green Building Rating Systems – Summary
I’ve reviewed three of the more-well-known green building rating systems in previous weeks. Since the strategies for building green are fairly similar, a lot of the information used in determining the green building ratings are somewhat similar. The delivery systems of these rating systems differ.
The best way to see which system is going to work best for your organization and your school is to do more research applicable to your specific goals. There are resources available to help you determine which is best. You can hire a green building consultant to lead your school district or school through a needs assessment, and after obtaining information on the systems, you can make a decision. Do the research; the data is out there to show that green building does not necessarily cost more. When you think about green from the standpoint of how much money is spent over the lifetime of a building, you need to build green from a standpoint of spending your money wisely. If you know that you can build a building that will alleviate utility costs, provide a healthier environment, and reduce absenteeism, why wouldn’t you build that way? Use ACEF as one of your resources. Start with a district-wide Indoor Environmental Quality program.
A few takeaway facts:
CHPS: 86 completed CHPS schools and approximately 300 underway seeking CHPS recognition.
Green Globes: Over 150 commercial facilities in the U.S. have been certified using Green Globes.
LEED: There are 8,508 LEED Certified projects and 23,775 LEED Registered projects.
You can build green for both new and for existing buildings. Industry projections point to an avalanche of existing building green building certifications in the coming years, since there are so many more existing schools than new. Existing schools have many more challenges to overcome in maintenance and Indoor Environmental Quality, among other issues. Thirty to forty percent of a typical building’s life cycle costs occur during the design and construction phase, with the remaining sixty to seventy percent cost occurring during the rest of the building’s life. Since the design and construction phase of a building’s life cycle is typically 2-5 years, with the rest of the life cycle at 45-50 years, it only makes sense to maximize the return on the more expensive phase of a building’s life cycle (that’s in constant dollars).
www.chps.org
www.gbci.org
www.greenglobes.com
www.nist.gov
The best way to see which system is going to work best for your organization and your school is to do more research applicable to your specific goals. There are resources available to help you determine which is best. You can hire a green building consultant to lead your school district or school through a needs assessment, and after obtaining information on the systems, you can make a decision. Do the research; the data is out there to show that green building does not necessarily cost more. When you think about green from the standpoint of how much money is spent over the lifetime of a building, you need to build green from a standpoint of spending your money wisely. If you know that you can build a building that will alleviate utility costs, provide a healthier environment, and reduce absenteeism, why wouldn’t you build that way? Use ACEF as one of your resources. Start with a district-wide Indoor Environmental Quality program.
A few takeaway facts:
CHPS: 86 completed CHPS schools and approximately 300 underway seeking CHPS recognition.
Green Globes: Over 150 commercial facilities in the U.S. have been certified using Green Globes.
LEED: There are 8,508 LEED Certified projects and 23,775 LEED Registered projects.
You can build green for both new and for existing buildings. Industry projections point to an avalanche of existing building green building certifications in the coming years, since there are so many more existing schools than new. Existing schools have many more challenges to overcome in maintenance and Indoor Environmental Quality, among other issues. Thirty to forty percent of a typical building’s life cycle costs occur during the design and construction phase, with the remaining sixty to seventy percent cost occurring during the rest of the building’s life. Since the design and construction phase of a building’s life cycle is typically 2-5 years, with the rest of the life cycle at 45-50 years, it only makes sense to maximize the return on the more expensive phase of a building’s life cycle (that’s in constant dollars).
www.chps.org
www.gbci.org
www.greenglobes.com
www.nist.gov
Friday, September 9, 2011
Green Building Rating Systems and Schools, Part 1
Twenty percent of the population of the U.S. spends their day in a school. Many schools are not healthy environments. Those charged with providing a healthy learning climate for students can and should make changes to foster student health. In the search for providing a better learning experience for students what tools do administrators need to ensure the learning environment is the best possible for students and staff? The case can also be made that, as public schools are funded by taxpayers, school administrators should be good stewards of public monies by building in a way that reduces the environmental impact of schools. This, in turn, saves taxpayer money when the use of water and utilities are reduced.
Sustainable or green building rating systems have been developed in order to assist schools to determine “what exactly is green?”, “how green?”, and “what exactly is it I need to do to provide a healthy environment?”
Three rating systems that are used most frequently to help in providing healthy schools are LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), CHPS (Collaborative for High Performance Schools) and Green Globes.
LEED was originally developed in 2000 by the US Green Building Council. It is used in the United States and other countries, with a version specifically for schools. LEED for Schools was updated in 2009 to include both new and existing school projects.
CHPS was founded in 1999. There have been 86 CHPS schools completed nation-wide. CHPS has developed state-specific school building performance criteria for twelve states, with more underway.
Green Globes rating system was developed in 2000 under the name Green Globes for Existing Buildings. It was updated in 2002 and the rating system is applicable to all types of commercial construction, including schools.
Each of these rating systems looks at building design and construction from a holistic standpoint. Each is voluntary and third-party verified.
Next week we'll look at the specifics of rating systems.
What LEED is http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=1988
CHPS Fact Sheet http://www.chps.net/dev/Drupal/node/164
Green Globes http://www.greenglobes.com/about.asp
Sustainable or green building rating systems have been developed in order to assist schools to determine “what exactly is green?”, “how green?”, and “what exactly is it I need to do to provide a healthy environment?”
Three rating systems that are used most frequently to help in providing healthy schools are LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), CHPS (Collaborative for High Performance Schools) and Green Globes.
LEED was originally developed in 2000 by the US Green Building Council. It is used in the United States and other countries, with a version specifically for schools. LEED for Schools was updated in 2009 to include both new and existing school projects.
CHPS was founded in 1999. There have been 86 CHPS schools completed nation-wide. CHPS has developed state-specific school building performance criteria for twelve states, with more underway.
Green Globes rating system was developed in 2000 under the name Green Globes for Existing Buildings. It was updated in 2002 and the rating system is applicable to all types of commercial construction, including schools.
Each of these rating systems looks at building design and construction from a holistic standpoint. Each is voluntary and third-party verified.
Next week we'll look at the specifics of rating systems.
What LEED is http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=1988
CHPS Fact Sheet http://www.chps.net/dev/Drupal/node/164
Green Globes http://www.greenglobes.com/about.asp
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Children are at Higher Risk
Imagine an invisible, toxic cloud that hangs two and a half to three feet off the ground. Imagine it’s in homes and in public buildings, including schools. Imagine the better-built these buildings are from an energy conservation standpoint (more air-tight), the more the gas collects.
Now let’s picture children about three feet tall going about their daily activities in this cloud. They stand, walk, and even run in the cloud. They sit at their desks in the cloud, and at library and cafeteria tables. Because proportionately they breathe more than adults due to their body mass to lung size ratio, they take in more of this gas. This gas is not imaginary, nor is the scenario. The gas is called formaldehyde and it’s classified as a carcinogen by the EPA and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) among others. We all live in this cloud every day, however, the ones who are most affected by the cloud are the most vulnerable of our population, the very young.
Where does formaldehyde come from? It’s contained in many products, materials, finishes, and furnishings. It’s used in particle board, wafer board or OSB (oriented strand board), and plywood, which is used for floor underlayment, backing in walls, and roof decking. Particle board is also used in most of today’s furniture. A few places you’ll see particle board is in cabinetry, paneling, shelving, desks, tables, chairs – anything that isn’t real wood all the way through - most likely has a wood or “photo wood” veneer with a particle board interior. It’s used in plastic products. Carpet has formaldehyde, as well as sheet vinyl, “pergo-style” wood laminate flooring, vinyl wallpaper, and paints. It’s found in fabrics and used in furniture production. So your child’s sleepwear, sheets, and bed all contain formaldehyde, as well as the furniture at school and at home. That “new home” “new car” “new furniture” and “new carpet” smell is in large part the smell of formaldehyde.
What to do? Build green for starters. Green buildings, when under construction and when brand-new, don’t have a “new building” smell. There are many differences in a LEED® or CHPS building, for example, than a typical building. There are also other rating systems that will produce results (Energy Star although it is not specific to IAQ). Open the doors and windows every day for half an hour or whatever is practical in order to exchange air until you can provide better air circulation. Get rid of particle-board laden furniture. Remove carpets and replace with hard surfaces that don’t contain formaldehyde. When purchasing rugs, purchase “real” fiber rugs like wool, cotton, or jute. Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems should be designed to bring in fresh air from outside, and to exhaust stale air. There are some increasingly sophisticated ways to pull in pre-heated or pre-cooled air in HVAC systems. All green building standards recognize the importance of maximizing the quality of inside air.
You can purchase a formaldehyde test kit online. The kit will have information on safe and unsafe levels of formaldehyde so you will be able to interpret test results.
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/MMG/MMG.asp?id=216&tid=39
http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/iris_drafts/recordisplay.cfm?deid=223614
Formaldehyde Exposure Among Children: A Potential Building Block of Asthma. Environmental Health Protection 118:313–317; McGwin et al.
Goldmacher VS, Thilly WG. Formaldehyde is mutagenic for cultured human cells. Mutat. Res. 1983;116:417-422.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/formaldehyde#r1
Now let’s picture children about three feet tall going about their daily activities in this cloud. They stand, walk, and even run in the cloud. They sit at their desks in the cloud, and at library and cafeteria tables. Because proportionately they breathe more than adults due to their body mass to lung size ratio, they take in more of this gas. This gas is not imaginary, nor is the scenario. The gas is called formaldehyde and it’s classified as a carcinogen by the EPA and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) among others. We all live in this cloud every day, however, the ones who are most affected by the cloud are the most vulnerable of our population, the very young.
Where does formaldehyde come from? It’s contained in many products, materials, finishes, and furnishings. It’s used in particle board, wafer board or OSB (oriented strand board), and plywood, which is used for floor underlayment, backing in walls, and roof decking. Particle board is also used in most of today’s furniture. A few places you’ll see particle board is in cabinetry, paneling, shelving, desks, tables, chairs – anything that isn’t real wood all the way through - most likely has a wood or “photo wood” veneer with a particle board interior. It’s used in plastic products. Carpet has formaldehyde, as well as sheet vinyl, “pergo-style” wood laminate flooring, vinyl wallpaper, and paints. It’s found in fabrics and used in furniture production. So your child’s sleepwear, sheets, and bed all contain formaldehyde, as well as the furniture at school and at home. That “new home” “new car” “new furniture” and “new carpet” smell is in large part the smell of formaldehyde.
What to do? Build green for starters. Green buildings, when under construction and when brand-new, don’t have a “new building” smell. There are many differences in a LEED® or CHPS building, for example, than a typical building. There are also other rating systems that will produce results (Energy Star although it is not specific to IAQ). Open the doors and windows every day for half an hour or whatever is practical in order to exchange air until you can provide better air circulation. Get rid of particle-board laden furniture. Remove carpets and replace with hard surfaces that don’t contain formaldehyde. When purchasing rugs, purchase “real” fiber rugs like wool, cotton, or jute. Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems should be designed to bring in fresh air from outside, and to exhaust stale air. There are some increasingly sophisticated ways to pull in pre-heated or pre-cooled air in HVAC systems. All green building standards recognize the importance of maximizing the quality of inside air.
You can purchase a formaldehyde test kit online. The kit will have information on safe and unsafe levels of formaldehyde so you will be able to interpret test results.
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/MMG/MMG.asp?id=216&tid=39
http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/iris_drafts/recordisplay.cfm?deid=223614
Formaldehyde Exposure Among Children: A Potential Building Block of Asthma. Environmental Health Protection 118:313–317; McGwin et al.
Goldmacher VS, Thilly WG. Formaldehyde is mutagenic for cultured human cells. Mutat. Res. 1983;116:417-422.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/formaldehyde#r1
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)