| What are high performance school buildings and why do we care about them? High performance schools are designed holistically to maximize all possible energy savings and to create healthy, enriching places to learn and teach. They are buildings well-suited to their site, and integral to the community. In a nutshell, they are good for children, they are affordable to build, they save significant amounts of operating costs over time, and they make sense from just about any perspective, whether health, fiscal, environmental, societal, or architectural.
What is the promise of healthy, high performance schools? The Sustainable Buildings Industry Council has identified seven key practical benefits:
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Better student performance
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Increased average daily attendance
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Increased teacher satisfaction and retention
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Reduced operating costs
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Reduced liability exposure
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A positive influence on the environment Increased opportunities for using the school building itself as a teaching tool. (Sustainable Buildings Iindustry Council, 2001)
To these we would add:
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Buildings that communicate the value our society places on our young people and their learning
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A healthier student body and teaching staff
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Communities fully invested in their schools
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Schools as models of environmental stewardship
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Buildings designed to be flexible for the changing needs of future students
"It’s common sense and it’s simple. Why pay to operate a mechanical system on a beautiful 70ºF spring day? An integrated systems approach makes it possible to open the windows and let in the fresh outside air, listen to the birds sing and enjoy the warmth of the sun.”
Minnesota Office of
Environmental Assistance, 2001
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High Performance School Topics
>What is a High Performance School?
>Current School Conditons--2000 NCES Report
>High Performance Guidelines
>Case Studies by State
>Costs and Benefits of
High Performance Construction
>National Call to Action on School Facilities (PDF File)
(printer friendly version)
>High Performance Buidling Checklist
>Annotated Bibliography
>Background Papers in High Performance Schools
>High Performance School Links
>View SBIC Video and
visit High Performance School Online Training Center |
