Hi Ed,
take a look at these resources, some great ones here.
- Mike Nicklas, who was here 3 years ago and who re-designed the MUM Student Center to be 50% more energy efficient, has devoted the rest of his professional life to building green schools. he has thought about it very deeply.
- Also, we should seriously consider using Bob Berkebile for a green high school. Let's discuss.
- Healthy Sustainable Schools: Guide & Assessment Tool
With a goal of helping Minnesota K-12 schools reduce operating costs, reduce environmental impacts and promote a healthy indoor/outdoor environment for students, the MPCA has produced a free on-line and printed resource that provides a:
- Guide (65 p.) to the many physical/operational aspects of a school that can be changed.
- Assessment Tool (60 p.) - a checklist - for walking through school buildings and documenting what needs to be done to make improvements.
Aimed at motivated parents and school officials committed to making improvements, the Guide helps advocates for change sell their recommendations by summarizing the many benefits of a healthier school, which include:
- Enhanced student health and performance
- Higher performing school buildings with reduced operating & maintenance costs
- Reduced environmental impacts
- Increased student attendance
- Increased staff satisfaction
The Guide covers the following topics under the headings of Buildings & Operations, Reduce / Reuse / Recycle, Health & Wellness, and Toxicity Reduction:
- Green building; energy and water conservation
- Smart growth; building location / community adjacencies /size
- Environmentally preferable purchasing; green cleaning
- 3R options; paper and food waste reduction; composting
- Indoor air quality; integrated pest management
- School bus emissions; mercury, lead, chemicals management
- Nutrition
The Assessment Tool for Change includes these chapters:
- Free Topic Experts and Resources
- Getting Started
- Establishing a Team
- Building Awareness and Support (includes model policy statements)
- School Assessment Forms
- Final Tips
View and download the Guide and Assessment Tool at the web site above, where you will also find 6 school case studies. Three of these 5- to 8-page studies are from pilot projects that used and refined the Guide and Tool. For those school leaders working on an improvement project, contact the MPCA's Linda Countryman (linda.countryman@state.mn.us; 651/215-0269) for a free printed copy of this resource and for additional assistance.
- Other resources:
