Studies have shown that schools incorporating passive solar features, such as daylighting, use less energy, student grades have improved, and attendance is higher. - EnergySmart Schools

High performance sustainable schools are designed to help schools meet their energy needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable school design includes efficient lighting and mechanical systems, environmentally friendly building materials, water conservation, and use of sunlight. The buildings are positioned to maximize solar use.

The State of Texas believes that although sustainably designed schools may cost more to build, they ultimately produce better results at lower costs over the life of the structure, compared to more traditional building design systems. The Texas State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) works to demonstrate that sustainability in school environments contributes to healthier, happier, and higher performing students.

High Performance School Study
This SECO project compares the collective efficacy of teachers as well as the energy use in several of the McKinney ISD high performance schools and similar traditionally- designed schools. The study also reviews the sustainable design recommendations as compared with the sustainable components included in the facility. Final Report

School sustainable design studies have demonstrated that students benefit significantly from attending schools where daylight, rather than traditional artificial lighting, was the principal source of internal lighting. According to the U. S. Department of Energy, design strategies and construction costs for sustainably designed schools do not show a significant cost increase over conventionally designed schools. Students who attend these schools benefit from daylighting, both in terms of increased performance (as measured by test scores) and general health and well being.

Source: U.S. Green Building Council The cafeteria in this sustainably designed school is lit by daylight.

A First in Texas Sustainable Schools

Participants in SECO's school design demonstration projects have received funding for professional assistance from nationally recognized practitioners in sustainable school design. Through a Request for Proposals, SECO selected two Independent School Districts (ISDs) from among the fastest growing in the state. Fastest growing ISDs were defined as those with a 5-year student growth in excess of 1,000 from the school year 1991-92 to 1996-97.

The districts selected, McKinney ISD and Austin ISD, each received funding of $200,000 for professional sustainable design assistance services and technical support during the design, construction and commissioning phases of new school facilities that demonstrate exemplary sustainability features such as daylighting, energy efficiency, rainwater harvesting, and regionally-sourced materials. Both schools designs feature low environmental impact and high energy efficiency, and serve as sustainability models for other school districts.

McKinney ISD

Roy Lee Walker Elementary School

When we think about this building and its sustainability features, they aren't just cosmetic, they are actually real working systems. And when the students know about that, it is so exciting to them to become environmentally aware. Deb Beasley, Principal, Roy Lee Walker Elementary School, 2000

The McKinney Independent School District (MISD) is the first state-funded, sustainable school district in Texas. When students entered MISD's Roy Lee Walker Elementary School in August 2000, they were greeted by environmentally friendly design features unique to Texas schools, including a windmill, eco-pond, weather station and rainwater collection system. McKinney ISD is also using sustainable design for the construction of future elementary schools.

Take a virtual tour

The school incorporates environmentally friendly design principles, including:

• building orientation to increase day lighting and reduce fluorescent lighting,
• high-efficiency electric lighting,
• light and motion detectors to monitor energy usage,
• solar panels to heat water for the school,
• minimized impervious surface,
• rainwater collection (six cisterns) to water school lawns,
• windmill to circulate the harvested rainwater,
• Texas native landscaping to reduce water use,
• eco-garden to demonstrate water conservation and aquatic plants and animals,
• outdoor teaching spaces,
• use of regionally produced products,
• low-toxic or non-toxic building materials,
• weather station to demonstrate energy and water conservation systems,
• minimized construction waste, and recycling of construction materials, and
• providing for animal habitats and restoring waterways and vegetation.

Eco Education
The Roy Lee Walker Elementary School design fosters Eco Education, a term that describes the incorporation of environmentally sound facility design into the school's educational curriculum. The initial cost to build McKinney ISDís Walker Elementary was about 15 percent higher than the average, but the savings over the life of the structure will more than make up for the additional costs. The sustainable features at Walker donít just save money and energy in the long run, they provide a valuable learning opportunity for the students.

Walker Elementary Wins Earth Day Award The American Institute of Architects selected Roy Lee Walker Elementary School as one of the 1999 Earth Day Top Ten award recipients in recognition of architectural design solutions that protect and enhance the environment. The AIA claimed Roy Lee Walker as one of the most environmentally friendly buildings in the United States.

Solar arrays, wind turbines, and water cisterns educate students while saving money and the environment.

Austin ISD - National Model for School Sustainable Design

SECO's other selected sustainable school project is somewhat different. Austin Independent School District (AISD) partnered with the City of Austin to open the JJ Pickle Elementary/St John's Community Center in 2002, which has become a national model for sustainable design elements. Energy efficiency was the main focus during the project. This is the first time that the School District and the City have joined to provide a facility. The building houses an elementary school, a public branch library, a neighborhood recreation center, health and human services offices and a community police office. The non-AISD services have independent interior entrances as a security measure for the school areas.

The Austin City/AISD partnership has enabled extensive use of sustainable building practices that save on water and electricity usage as well as maintenance costs, such as:

• building siting and orientation maximize day-lighting so that classrooms, gym, cafeteria and library can use sunlight supplemented by fluorescent lighting during the day;
  
  
• for optimized daylighting, clerestory windows are used on the south-facing classrooms;
  
  
• a sloping metal roof improves daylighting by bouncing light into the clerestories;
  
  
• windows at eye-level use a 1/4-inch green-tinted, infrared-absorbing glass;
  
  
• rainwater collected from the metal roof and stored in cisterns is used by the air-conditioning system to reduce the use of Austin City's water; and
  
  
• use of insulated tilt-wall construction, which uses foam board in the center of the concrete wall to reduce potential problems related to the foam's fire resistance, insect infestation and moisture.

2002 Architectural Award The JJ Pickle Elementary/St John's Community Center won the 2002 Honor Award, Austin Chapter of American Institute of Architects. The commitment of the Austin school district and Austin City, as well as the expectations of the community, will ensure that this project will continue to be a showcase for future sustainable projects throughout the state. In addition to a neighborhood center, the facility houses a health clinic, a new public library and an Austin Police Department community policing office.

Library

SECO continues to work for future sustainable school design project for elementary schools, middle schools and high schools in order to provide all Texas school districts with examples of sustainable designs for each type of school facility. SECO's goal is to encourage Texas school districts to look at life cycle cost, energy conservation and the environment when they design and build their facilities.

Cool Roof Technology Report
The Cool Roof Technology Report was prepared and funded by the Texas State Energy Conservation Office (SECO). SECO is interested in providing practical and affordable ways of increasing the energy efficiency of portable classroom buildings in wide use by public school districts in the State of Texas. These buildings provide a fast, cost effective ways for districts to rapidly expand their capacity; however, due to their nature of construction, they are particularly susceptible to characteristics that waste energy, thus depriving schools of badly needed operations and maintenance dollars. The main objective of SECO is to provide access to technologies that reduce the energy consumption of these structures. This evaluation report was performed by the Brooks Energy and Sustainability Laboratory of the Texas A&M University.

Resources

Online Training for High Performance Schools Design
These free, interactive courses are sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Association of State Energy Officials as a public benefit for design and engineering professionals specializing in sustainable design for K-12 schools. High performance school design integrates daylighting, indoor air quality, and energy efficiency to build a school that runs efficiently, saves money, protects natural resources, and provides superior visual, acoustical, and thermal comfort.

EnergySmart Schools
The U.S. Department of Energy's Building Technologies Program sponsors the EnergySmart Schools Program to reduce schools' energy use and to provide better learning environments for children. This web site includes numerous resources for architects and engineers in designing and building high performance schools.

National Best Practices Manual for Building High Performance Schools
This U. S. Department of Energy publication is a companion piece for the Energy Design Guidelines that provides in-depth information designed specifically for architects and engineers on how to build a high performance school.

Advanced Energy Design Guide for K-12 School Buildings
Published by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), this guide is for elementary, middle, and high school buildings, which have a wide variety of heating and air-conditioning requirements. Options for daylighting, an important component in schools, are included. I-P units.

Green Schools are the Way to Go
This U.S. Green Building Council web site offers resources to help you learn more about what defines a "green" school and how your kids and your school district can benefit.

Green Schools
A comprehensive program developed by the Alliance to Save Energy for students and teachers. The Green Schools Program engages students in creating energy-saving activities in their schools, using hands-on, real-world projects. Through basic changes in the operations, maintenance, and individual behavior, Green Schools has achieved reductions in energy use of 5 to 15 percent among participating schools. Lesson Plans.

High Performance School Design Online Training
Interactive courses on this site are offered free of charge as a public benefit for design and engineering professionals specializing in sustainable design for K-12 schools. High performance school design integrates daylighting, indoor air quality, and energy efficiency to build a school that runs efficiently, saves money, protects natural resources, and provides superior visual, acoustical, and thermal comfort.

Council of Educational Facility Planners
The Council is a professional association whose sole mission is improving the places where children learn. CEFPI members - individuals, institutions and corporations - are actively involved in planning, designing, building, equipping and maintaining schools and colleges.

SBIC High-Performance School Buildings
The Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC) High-Performance School Buildings Online Multimedia Training Center was developed with support from the U.S. Department of Energy's Rebuild America/EnergySmart Schools program and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities (NCEF)
The NCEF was created in 1997 by the U.S. Department of Education to provide information on planning, designing, funding, building, improving, and maintaining safe, healthy, high performance schools. This web site has an extensive offering of articles and reports.

Healthy School Environment Resources
This is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency web site with numerous resources to help facility managers, school administrators, architects, design engineers, school nurses, parents, teachers and staff address environmental health issues in schools.

Planning Guide for Maintaining School Facilities
This guide is published by the National Center for Education Statistics, the National Forum on Education Statistics, and the Association of School Business Officials International for staff at the local school district level. The report promotes the role of facility maintenance in creating a safe and healthy learning environment that is also cost and energy efficient.

Guide for Daylighting Schools
The InnovativeDesign web site has several free articles and studies on sustainable design for schools.

Texas Solar for Schools
SECO has funded many small-scale solar energy systems to school districts across the state to help make these schools more sustainable. Each school receives a 1 kW system, a web-based monitoring system, and several additional hands-on learning tools to enhance the educational component of the project as well as student and staff training.

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