Parents Day at Sidwell Friends School - the first LEED Platinum School
Washington DC, USA
Its parents' night at Sidwell Friends Middle School in Washington, DC and the scenes are familiar and repeated throughout America every September and October. Parents chatting, sitting at their child's desk, reading their child's work and personalized note, the teachers' outlining their plans for the new year, the walls decorated with our children's projects. For us and the rest of the 6th grade Sidwell Middle School parents, this is the second year we have passed our fall ritual in the school. But this is not any school, it is after all one of the more fabled independent (that is, "private") schools in America, certainly Washington, DC. Sidwell is known for its strong academic credentials and orientation (the football team rarely has a winning season but we do have a football team nonetheless), and Quaker values. Nor is this just any school building. This building, now open for its second academic year, is the first LEED Platinum Award school building in the US. The LEED Award (which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the US Green Building Council's way of acknowledging superior environmental design. As of July 2007, there were only 40 LEED Platinum certified buildings in the US and Sidwell is the only school to receive this award. More recently, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment selected the new Sidwell building along with nine other buildings in America as examples of appropriate sustainable architecture.
We parents love this, of course, even if the 57 points awarded to Sidwell to achieve the LEED platinum are not always immediately understood. Yes, the building feels fresh, free of the slightly noxious Oder of new institutional construction. The lighting seems just perfect, without the usual dark and shadowed areas. The temperature also seems absolutely spot on --- no one is pulling off their sweaters or putting on their scarves to fend off the cold spots and chills. My business is furnishing government and corporate facilities (and educational institutions) overseas and of course I admire the furniture. Its familiar from companies I routinely work with. Nothing too new there. But its the total building package and especially the comfort we all notice --- or more appropriately don't notice because everything seems just right, the way it is supposed to be.
Last year, the concrete interior stairwells were a bit shocking to us, the yet to be initiated to all things green. The exposed concrete beams were also out of the ordinary. We were shown the solar panels and recycling garden, which I am still trying to grasp but accept on face value. We are told about water management, energy efficiency, the building materials, and the indoor air quality. Sustainability and LEED Certification are readily mentioned. It all sounded good. And frankly, the place just feels good. I like the rest of the parents rarely are in the school for any length of time so the best we can do is to come away with our impressions. And mine is good. Its shared by my daughter.
Our older daughter, now a 30 year old doing her residency at Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia, went to Sidwell Upper School some 15 years earlier. Her Upper School building was always an oddity, the pall of late 50s and early 60s architecture sitting beside the original Tudor style 100+ year old building that now serves as the school's administrative offices. Dropping by during the day was like dropping into a a scene from the old movie and TV series "Paper Chase", or maybe a bit of "Fame" then this new Middle School building we are now sitting snacking cookies and drinking coffee. Not unlike my elementary school back in Kenosha, Wisconsin, opened in 1957. The old upper school has since been renovated. Its in the same building now expanded but the feeling is fresh as well.
Sidwell received some national press on its building. Allow me to add the excerpts below. They tell the story much better than I. I'm just a proud parent with a kid in a very good school, academically, socially, and now, as one of colleagues would say, "building-wise."
List of Reprinted Articles
Sidwell Friends Middle School Newsletter, 2007
Environmental Design and Construction Magazine, 2007 Sidwell Friends Middle School First K-12 Receives LEED Platinum April 3, 2007
The world's first LEED Platinum rated K-12 school teaches sustainability by example. Source: ARCHITECTURAL LIGHTING Magazine Publication date: June 1, 2007
Exerpted from “Building Green.com� April 23, 2007 Sidwell Friends Middle School
School pays higher price for eco-friendly technology, but says it's worth it Story by CNN 11:52 a.m. Monday, April 23, 2007
TIME MAGAZINE Little Green Schoolhouse, Thursday, Sep. 20, 2007 By BRYAN WALSH / WASHINGTON
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Exported from the Sidwell Friends Middle School Newsletter, 2007
Green Building
Visit the KieranTimberlake Associates website to learn more about our building.
Guided by its Quaker values, Sidwell Friends is committed as an institution to practicing responsible environmental stewardship. Our curriculum is grounded in teaching students about the natural world and their relationship to it. With the decision to construct a new Middle School, Sidwell Friends chose sustainable design as a logical expression of its values. We believe that a “green building� provides an opportunity to achieve an outstanding level of integration between the curriculum, values and mission of the School.
"Green" Components of the New Middle School
There are four major components of the new Middle School building that reflect our commitment to environmental stewardship.
Water Management:
A constructed wetland, the first in Washington, DC, treats building waste water on site. It is part of a closed system that recycles the water back to the building and lavatories. Constructed wetlands use biological processes to clean water, providing students with a vivid example of how such systems work in nature. Green roof vegetation holds and filters rainwater; gutters and downspouts direct rainwater to a biology pond, which supports native habitat. Herbs grown by students on the green roof are supplied to the cafeteria.
Energy Efficiency:
Building orientation, passive and mechanically assisted ventilation, solar chimneys and other features reduce the need for supplemental energy for heating and cooling. Window placement, skylights and reflective panels maximize use of natural light in new and existing classrooms. In every classroom, a dual system of light-filtering roller shades are installed that can be adjusted to accommodate natural light changes as well as room darkening requirements for AV projection. The use of energy for lighting in this building is 10 – 15% of that of a comparable code compliant building. This reduction in energy use in the lighting also dramatically reduces the need for cooling in the building as a result of the heat created by lights. The integrated lighting/fenestration/shading design is the single most effective energy conserving measure deployed in the building. 5% of the building’s total electrical load is generated by photovoltaic panels located on the roof.
Building Materials:
Recycled, rapidly renewable and locally produced materials such as cork, gypsum, linoleum, bamboo and wheat board substrate were used to furnish the building. These materials are harvested with minimal environmental impact. The skin of the building is of western red cedar, reclaimed from wine casks. Building systems are visible. Existing building was not demolished, but rather renovated and enlarged to further reduce damage to the environment.
Indoor Air Quality:
Paints, carpets and adhesives were selected for low emission of volatile organic compounds. Fresh air ventilation is separated from heating and cooling so that each can be calibrated to the number of occupants and outdoor temperature.
LEED Certification
Sidwell Friends has been awarded a Platinum level LEED rating for the Middle School. It is the first secondary school in the United States to have a LEED Platinum rating and the first LEED Platinum building in the District of Columbia.
Created by the U.S. Green Building Council in 1993, LEED (which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) emphasizes state-of-the-art strategies for sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environment quality. It is the industry standard certification program that defines high-performance green buildings and awards credits for various green building attributes. There are four levels of certification: certified, silver, gold, and platinum. The more credits, the higher the recognition and certification. In order to be a highly visible, national, model building that could serve as a demonstration site and a teaching facility, Sidwell Friends believes that platinum certification will best assist us in accomplishing this goal.
Environmental Stewardship in the Classroom
The current approach to designing green schools focuses largely on environmental responsibility and human health concerns. Sidwell Friends’ new Middle School, however, is more comprehensive in its plan, providing students with an exceptional opportunity to have a direct experience with their natural environment. The new Middle School is a central part of an invigorated environmental science curriculum providing a teaching tool through which students can witness natural and human-created systems at work The building is a hands-on laboratory for students to learn about ecological cycles. Students monitor the building functions and constantly measure the “health� of the facility. Teachers of every grade level have access to the building’s exposed systems for the study of flora and fauna, rainforests, human cellular structure and environmental science, as well as many aspects of the mechanical, electrical, structural and plumbing systems. Research has long shown that children excel when they have had the opportunity to connect the lessons they are learning with a concrete sensory experience. Sidwell Friends’ new Middle School moves the curriculum beyond the confines of the textbook and allow students to gain an experiential knowledge of environmental systems and the natural environment.
Environmental Stewardship in the Community
Sidwell Friends intends to make the building available to teachers and students in the Washington area and share its curriculum with schools across the country through a variety of collaborations, including a real-time performance monitoring program via the Internet. We hope to demonstrate how schools can integrate environmental design with an environmental curriculum and switch to a path of sustainability.
Partners in Environmental Stewardship
Sidwell Friends has partnered with the internationally-recognized architecture firm KieranTimberlake Associates LLP on the Middle School project.. Based in Philadelphia, the firm is known for its research, inventive design and planning services. The School is also working with Andropogon Associates, LTD, a leading landscape architecture firm with pioneering experience in the field of ecological planning and design. Their goal for the Middle School project is to integrate the functional needs of the built environment with ecologically sound alternatives in an effort to create sustainable landscapes. Representatives from World Resources International, the Center for the New American Dream, and the National Building Museum are all part of Sidwell’s environmental advisory committee. David Orr, environmental educator at Oberlin College and Steven Kellert, Professor of Social Ecology at Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, are serving as consultants as well. Specifically, Kellert has initiated a study for publication to assess the physical, emotional, intellectual, and interpersonal impacts of Sidwell Friends’ new green Middle School on its students, teachers, and staff.
LEED Certification
Sidwell Friends Middle School has been awarded a LEED Platinum rating by the U.S. Green Building Council, making it the first Platinum-rated K-12 school in the world and the first Platinum building in Washington, DC.
Tours To schedule a tour of our Middle School Green Building, please email greenbuilding@sidwell.edu. Sidwell Friends School 3825 Wisconsin Avenue NW Washington, DC 20016 Tel: (202) 537-8100 Fax: (202) 537-8138
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Environmental Design and Construction Magazine, 2007
Sidwell Friends Middle School First K-12 Receives LEED Platinum
April 3, 2007
Philadelphia — The Sidwell Friends Middle School in Washington, D.C., has been awarded a LEED Platinum rating. The School is the first K-12 school to achieve Platinum certification. There are currently 33 LEED Platinum-certified buildings worldwide.
Designed by Philadelphia-based architecture firm KieranTimberlake Associates, the building and landscape support the School’s curriculum with a facility that demonstrates an ethical relationship between the natural and the built environment. From the outset, the School desired a high-performance building to use as a lens through which students witness natural and mechanical systems at work in unison with each other.
“The client’s commitment to sustainability was never a question,� comments Stephen Kieran, design partner for the project. “This enabled us to create a new aesthetic formed around the restoration and enrichment of the natural environment.�
Fifty-seven LEED points were awarded to the building. Sustainable initiatives include a constructed wetland, which treats and recycles waste water for grey water use in the building, resulting in a 94 percent reduction of municipal water use. The wetland is the first of its type in Washington, D.C. In addition, the wetland and green roof function as a programmatic component of the science curriculum. The Middle School houses a central energy plant, which serves other campus buildings, saving energy, operating costs and space. Energy use is further reduced by exterior sunscreens designed to balance thermal performance with optimum day lighting, and solar chimneys to enhance passive ventilation. Five percent of the overall building’s electrical demand is generated by photovoltaic panels. Reclaimed, rapidly renewable and regionally manufactured materials used in construction include exterior cladding from cedar fermentation barrels, greenheart flooring and decking from pilings in the Baltimore Harbor.
“This is absolutely intended to be a paradigm shifting facility,� says Head of School Bruce Stewart. “Sidwell Friends School hopes and believes that this will change the way children are educated across the nation and around the world.�
To determine if the extensive environmental design initiatives have a verifiable impact on the performance and health of the school population, students and faculty are participating in an ambitious study led by the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Science.
Yale Professor Stephen Kellert explains that the study will “explore the hypothesis that children who have greater contact with nature in the school environment show superior physical, emotional, and intellectual performance and well-being. We will also examine if a building with better environmental systems and the experience of nature results in enhanced health, morale, and motivation among faculty, staff and students.�
Founded in 1984, KieranTimberlake Associates LLP is an award-winning and internationally published architecture firm noted for its research, innovation and inventive design. Current commissions include projects for Yale University, Cornell University, the University of Calgary and an off-site fabricated housing product for Living Homes.
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The world's first LEED Platinum rated K-12 school teaches sustainability by example.
Source: ARCHITECTURAL LIGHTING Magazine
Publication date: June 1, 2007
By Margaret Maile Petty
Growing awareness of the devastating repercussions of the global warming crisis is causing people to rethink their actions, whether it be how they travel to work, what kind of products they purchase, or how spaces are designed, built, and lit. However, those of us now standing at that crossroad are light-years behind the green-minded people responsible for the newly renovated and expanded Sidwell Friends Middle School in Washington, D.C.—the first LEED Platinum-rated K-12 school in the world and the first Platinum project in Washington, D.C.
Founded in 1883, the Sidwell Friends School is a Quaker co-educational institution that has proven its commitment to environmental responsibility throughout its existence. The school's curriculum is based on the belief that students must acquire a deep appreciation for the natural world and recognize the implications of their relationship with it. So when the directors of the school decided to expand the existing Middle School, they saw an opportunity to express and embody the core values of the institution.
Guided by the Quaker principle of stewardship to the Earth, Sidwell Friends hired Philadelphia-based KieranTimberlake Associates (KTA), a firm known for its research and innovation, to head the project. KTA was charged with transforming the undersized existing 55-year-old Middle School into a 72,000 square feet state-of-the-art sustainable teaching environment.
Completed in 2006, the Middle School serves as a dynamic demonstration of the broader network of systems that support any such complex. These systems, including storm water management, waste-water recycling and solar electricity generation, typically hidden from users are exposed at the new Middle School, allowing students to observe and quantify their interrelationship with natural resources, the local habitat, and the built environment. Sidwell Friends' desire to not only maximize green systems, but also to readily reveal them was integral to their concept for the expansion. According to KTA's Richard Hodge, project architect, “The integration of demonstration into the mix was unique, as was the client's ambition to make LEED a part of the school's curriculum.� To that end, KTA worked with the Lucid Design Group to develop a monitoring and display system that allows students to interact with the school's living systems through an internally hosted website providing both real-time and historical data pertaining to the overall performance and health of the building and its individual systems.
Among the Sidwell Friends' many innovative green components is a constructed wetland—the first of its kind in the District of Columbia—that receives and biologically cleans the school's wastewater and returns it to the building's ecosystem to serve as grey water for the toilets and cooling systems. The school also hosts a green roof, developed in part as an outdoor classroom, which filters rainwater that feeds a biology pond and supports natural habitat. Solar chimneys located alongside the green roof provide passive ventilation and roof-mounted photovoltaic panels provide 5 percent of the electrical demand for the building. Additionally, a large percentage of the materials used in the renovation and new construction of the Middle School are composed of recycled, natural, locally produced or rapidly renewable materials. One example is the western red cedar reclaimed from fifty-year-old wine casks used for the vertical fins that enliven the addition's façade and the third floor of the existing building.
As impressive as these green features are, the lighting design, and in particular, the daylighting of the Middle School was a key aspect in creating a truly sustainable building. The success of Sidwell's lighting program is thanks to the partnership and ingenuity of Sean O'Connor, of Sean O'Connor Associates Lighting Consultants, and Jim Benya, an internationally recognized expert in daylighting and sustainable lighting design. Working as a team, O'Connor took on the role of lighting designer, while Benya assumed the role of daylighting designer, which also included responsibility for certain aspects of the challenging site master planning. As Benya describes, the southwestern orientation of the existing building was, “The biggest daylighting challenge of the project.� However, through analysis of site and use patterns, O'Connor and Benya realized that the most devastating solar gain would occur after three o'clock in the afternoon—when school was out. This allowed the designers greater flexibility in their daylighting solution. According to Benya, the characteristic red cedar fins on the façade were “essential to making this building work from a daylighting standpoint.� Through careful calculations and extensive modeling, a precise angle was determined for the fins that would allow sufficient diffuse light from the sky, but prevent direct solar sun from entering the building before 3pm. While the classrooms also have interior shading systems, the fins are critical in keeping the solar sun, and therefore the heat, from entering the classrooms. These fins, in combination with modest glazing, create a classroom environment that can function solely with daylighting for the majoBenya's extensive daylight modeling was critical to obtaining the LEED Platinum rating for the school. Using a combination of software programs, AGI32 and Lumen Micro 2000, Benya was able to closely determine the behavior of the building throughout the course of the year, and subsequently calculate and predict how the building would perform overall.
Importantly, these figures allowed Benya to measure if the building would comply with the LEED daylighting credit. According to Benya, “Getting all of the classrooms to meet the daylighting credit was an essential part of how we got LEED Platinum.� Equal care also was given to the design of the electrical lighting for the Middle School. As O'Connor explains, they took an atypical approach to the electrical lighting design, focusing on “watt hours, rather than watts per square foot� and reducing the need for electric lighting through the creative utilization of architectural surfaces and relights, such as the light shelves located in many of the corridors that channel light over the hallways and onto the ceilings of classrooms with less beneficial exposures.
Custom light fixtures were designed for the classrooms as well. Notable for their simplicity and efficiency, these luminaries offer only two modes: lecture mode for general classroom use with uplights, and AV mode with minimal downlights for presentations requiring restricted lighting conditions. As an energy efficiency safeguard, the fixtures are designed so that only one mode can run at a time. Furthermore, during lecture mode daylight sensors automatically regulate the system, brightening or dimming the fixtures as necessary. This system also reduces user error, with teachers only needing to select the desired mode.
Selected by the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment as one of their Top Ten Green Project for 2007, the Sidwell Friends Middle School serves as an example not only to the student body and local community, but to all, of what is possible when a commitment to protecting the environment and preserving natural resources is made. As Benya keenly argues, there was nothing “exotic� about the solutions implemented at Sidwell Friends or extraordinary about the budget, and therefore, as he explains, it should serve as a “workable prototype for what every school building could easily be. The reason we don't think in these terms is that we haven't had to.� But the time of not considering these issues is quickly drawing to an end, and thankfully institutions like the Sidwell Friends Middle School are setting an example that makes it very difficult to ethically justify or accept traditional (and often comfortable) approaches to designing the built environment. As Benya states, “There is simply no excuse not to do it.�
DETAILS
PROJECT Sidwell Friends Middle School Addition, Washington D.C.
CLIENT Sidwell Friends School, Washington D.C.
ARCHITECT KieranTimberlake Associates, Philadelphia
LIGHTING DESIGNER Sean O'Connor Associates Lighting Consultants, Los Angeles
DAYLIGHTING CONSULTANT Benya Lighting Design, West Linn, Oregon
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER CVM Engineers, Wayne, Pennsylvania
MEP ENGINEER Bruce Brooks & Associates, Philadelphia
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Andropogon Associates, Philadelphia
WETLAND CONSULTANT Natural Systems International, Santa Fe, New Mexico
SUSTAINABLE DESIGN CONSULTANTS Green Shape, Washington, D.C.; Integrative Design Collaborative, Arlington, Massachusetts
CIVIL ENGINEER VIKA, McLean, Virginia
GEOTECHNICAL ECS Mid-Atlantic, Chantilly, Virginia
INFORMATION DISPLAY Lucid Design Group, Oakland, California
COMMISSIONING AGENT Engineering Economics, Arlington, Virginia
EXTERIOR WALL CONSULTANT Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Rockville, Maryland
PHOTOGRAPHERS Peter Aaron/Esto (page 28 and 30, left); Barry Halkin, (page 29 and page 30, right top and bottom)
PROJECT SIZE 39,000 square feet
MANUFACTURERS Architectural Area Lighting, Artemide, Bartco, B-K Lighting, Con-Tech, Energie, Erco, Finelite, Focal Point, Forum, Hevi Lite, Kurt Versen, Lightolier, Lithonia, Lutrex, Lutron, Mercury, Metalux, Rambusch, Selux, Smedmark, Zumtobel
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Exerpted from “Building Green.com� April 23, 2007
Sidwell Friends Middle School
Overview • Location: Washington, DC • Building type(s): K-12 education • 54% new construction, 46% renovation of a 1950 building, last renovated in 1971 • 72,200 sq. feet (6,710 sq. meters) • Project scope: 3-story building • Urban setting • Completed September 2006 • Rating: U.S. Green Building Council LEED-NC, v.2/v.2.1--Level: Platinum (57 points)
The master plan for the Sidwell Friends School, a pre-K through 12th-grade Quaker independent school, focuses on meeting programmatic needs for its two campuses in Washington, D.C., and Bethesda, Maryland, including the unification of the campuses through coherent landscapes and enhanced pedestrian circulation.
The renovation and addition to the middle school transforms a 55-year-old facility into a school that teaches environmental responsibility by example. The 39,000 ft2 addition more than doubled the size of the existing building, providing modern spaces for music and art, science and computer labs, counseling, and a library while retaining and enhancing the value of the existing structure.
Environmental Aspects
Designed to foster an ethic of social and environmental responsibility in each student, the facility demonstrates a responsible relationship between the natural and the built environment. Bicycle storage and showers are available, and the building is located within walking distance of a subway stop and several bus stops. Parking is available in an underground lot. A green roof and constructed wetland reduce stormwater runoff, improve the quality of infiltrated runoff, and reduce municipal water use. The wetland treats wastewater for reuse in the toilets and cooling towers.
The building was sited to take advantage of passive solar design. Together with high-efficiency electric lighting, photosensors, and occupancy sensors, daylighting minimizes lighting energy use. Solar-ventilation chimneys, operable windows, and ceiling fans minimize the need for mechanical cooling. Rather than develop a utility plant for this building alone, a central plant was created to serve the entire campus. A photovoltaic array generates about 5% of the building's electricity needs.
Reclaimed materials include exterior cladding, flooring and decking, and the stone used for landscaping. Interior finishes were selected for their high levels of recycled content, low chemical emissions, and use of rapidly renewable materials.
Owner & Occupancy • Owned and occupied by Sidwell Friends School, Corporation, nonprofit • Typically occupied by 405 people, 40 hours per person per week Keywords Green framework, Green specifications, Commissioning, Wetlands, Indigenous vegetation, Stormwater management, Efficient fixtures and appliances, Wastewater treatment, Massing and orientation, Glazing, Passive solar, HVAC, Lighting control and daylight harvesting, Efficient lighting, On-site renewable electricity, Adaptable design, Benign materials, Salvaged materials, Recycled materials, Local materials, C&D waste management, Daylighting, Natural ventilation, Low-emitting materials
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School pays higher price for eco-friendly technology, but says it's worth it
Story by CNN
11:52 a.m. Monday, April 23, 2007
The exclusive Sidwell Friends School in Washington D.C. has a new addition that school administrators are proud of. "It has a dramatically reduced use of energy and water, extensive use of recycled materials, reclaimed materials, and locally-sourced materials," said Assistant Head of School Mike Saxenian.
The school says the $21 million cost is 15 percent higher than conventional construction.
"Just being in the building really just gives you sort of a wake-up call because every aspect of it is contributing to the world," one student said.
"The kids really do understand the building, and we trained 28 of our eighth-graders to be tour guides," Principal Sally Selby said. 5 percent of the middle school's eneregy comes from solar panels.
The solar inverters take the energy from the solar panels and convert it from direct current to alternating current.
"I really like the windows and how, when you open them. They have sensors that turn off the air-conditioning to save energy," one student said.
Vegetation on the roof will help control rainwater runoff:
"We planted some lettuce and some herbs, which we'll hopefully use in the cafeteria in the future," one student said.
"Sidwell Friends is a wonderful demonstration of how incredibly beneficial green schools can be for the learning environment," said Michelle Moore, with the U.S. Green Building Council. The U.S. Green Building Council gave its highest rating to the school.
"We recognize projects that really go above and beyond," Moore said. Students hope their school will show other schools and other buildings to ways to be more environmentally friendly.
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TIME MAGAZINE
Little Green Schoolhouse Thursday, Sep. 20, 2007 By BRYAN WALSH / WASHINGTON
The 50 solar panels arrayed on Sidwell Friends' roof provide 5% of the new middle school's total elelectrical supply. Flat strips of lush, submerged grass rise in terraces from the courtyard of Sidwell Friends' new middle school in Washington like rice paddies in a mountainous Chinese village. Part of a man-made wetland connected to the school's water system, the plants filter liquid waste, just as real wetlands do with rainwater. It's an engineering marvel, but Sidwell student Patricia Solleveld, 15, doesn't want you to get the wrong idea. "It doesn't smell at all," she says.
Not only that, says Alejandro Alderman, 14, but the wastewater filtered through the wetland is clean enough to drink. "But D.C. regulations don't let us," he says. "Which is kind of too bad."
Even if Sidwell middle school isn't quite a wetland, it can still lay claim to being the greenest school in the U.S., becoming the first institution to earn a platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building Council, an architectural watchdog organization.
More and more public and private schools have begun replacing their wheezy old buildings with energy-efficient new ones--or at least upgrading the structures they have. New Jersey is requiring all new school buildings to meet stricter environmental standards, and California and Massachusetts have made millions available to green their classrooms. It all comes at an opportune time: with baby-boomer-era buildings reaching the end of their life span, the U.S. must embark on a new wave of school construction anyway.
"We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to do this right," says Ted Bardacke, a senior associate at Global Green, an international environmental group.
If the initial cost of going green is high--and it can be--the savings can be even greater. Currently, the energy bill for primary and secondary schools in the U.S. is $6 billion--and that's per year, more than is spent annually on computers and books combined. Green schools can also inculcate green values in students at an impressionable age.
"We are in the process of developing a generation of kids who are environmental actors," says Rose Ellis, superintendent of the Williamstown School District in Massachusetts, which features a sustainable primary school.
That's the philosophy behind Sidwell's new middle school, where science teachers like Jennifer Mitchell have incorporated lessons on solar panels, double-glazed windows and other green features into their curriculums. When students discover that the wood beneath their feet comes from recycled wine casks or that carbon dioxide sensors in the classrooms can automatically adjust temperature by detecting how many people are inside, they're living a daily lesson in what green really means. "It becomes a standard they take with them," says Mitchell.
Sidwell, a tony Washington institution that counts Chelsea Clinton among its alumni, obviously has resources others don't, but schools don't need green to be green. Sultana High School in San Bernardino, Calif., used basic conservation techniques, like shutting off lights and equipment when not in use, to cut its energy bill by $100,000--half of which Sultana was allowed to keep for its own use. Like his counterparts at Sidwell, Mark Ziesmer, a Sultana science teacher, has designed lesson plans around conservation. "The students were really motivated," he says. "They want to understand what it means to be energy conscious."
Ultimately, they may come to understand even more than that. Sidwell is a Quaker school, and headmaster Bruce Stewart points out that Quakers have a familiar saying: "Let your life speak," which means let actions represent you. "Now we say, 'Let your building speak,'" Stewart says. "Let this be a testament to who we are and what we believe." If the next generation is going to be the planet's last line of defense, the least we can do is prepare them in an environment that values the environment.