Schools Rapidly Turning Green Across America

Schools Rapidly Turning Green Across America

"Green schools save operating costs for the district, create a better workplace for teachers, provide a healthier learning environment for students and support a more sustainable community."

Tens of thousands of students across the country will go back to school this fall to find their halls and classrooms turning green - as in environmentally sound and healthy, energy efficient and high performing. Hundreds of thousands of additional students are poised to attend environmentally designed schools within the next few years, according to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

As the school year begins, nearly 1,000 school buildings will have met or are seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, with applications growing at a rate of more than one per day. The total number of square feet of LEED certified and registered school space will exceed 100 million square feet as the school year gets underway, according to new figures released by the USGBC.

LEED certification provides parents, teachers and communities with a report card for school buildings - verifying that a school was built to meet the highest level of energy and environmental performance. Through July, more than 8 million square feet of school space are certified LEED while another 90 million square feet of projects are registered with USGBC. Registered status applies to projects before they are completed and applications are finalized.

"Schools across the country are going green," said Rachel Gutter, education sector senior manager of the USGBC. The nonprofit council administers the LEED Green Building Rating System for schools as well as for homes, affordable housing, offices, hospitals and other buildings nationwide. "Green schools save operating costs for the district, create a better workplace for teachers, provide a healthier learning environment for students and support a more sustainable community."

Public or private schools in 50 states have turned to the LEED for Schools program for new or renovated buildings, as educators and school leaders increasingly see environmental building as a way to improve air quality for students, teachers and communities while also cutting energy and water costs. Maryland, Hawaii, New Jersey, Illinois, Florida, Ohio, Washington, Connecticut and the District of Columbia already require new schools be built green; California and Pennsylvania offer strong incentives to follow environmental specifications.

Green schools even provide a wealth of hands-on learning opportunities, where the school itself becomes an interactive teaching tool. "Twenty percent of America goes to school every day," said Michelle Moore, USGBC senior vice president. "There is no better or more important place for us to demonstrate as a society that we can have a more sustainable future."