Green Building
“To significantly reduce or eliminate the negative impact of buildings on the environment and on the building occupants, green building design and construction practices address: sustainable site planning, safeguarding water and water efficiency, energy efficiency, conservation of materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality.”Source: Definition provided by United States Green Building Council – Atlanta Chapter website
What does it mean to be “Green?”
Childhood is often referred to as formative years because children experience everything in heightened sensory ways. Research tells us that optimal learning occurs when our senses are engaged and our brains are appropriately challenged. As we discuss renovating our learning facilities, we must keep in mind that children spend the majority of their waking hours in school. The greatest care must be taken to ensure that those hours are not spent in an unpleasant, uncomfortable, or bland environment, but rather one that is most conducive to learning. In addition, we want to ensure needs are met in the most efficient, consistent, and environmentally-friendly manner possible.
We believe we can accomplish this by paying attention to “Green” research and incorporating these practices and design principles into our planning. What does it mean to be Green? For our purposes, Green means to design and construct learning spaces that create a healthy, productive indoor environment that maximizes energy efficiency and conservation of natural resources by minimizing the need for power consumption and utilizes materials that are friendly to the environment.
Learning environments that are optimal for success do not have indoor environmental quality conditions that inhibit learning or health. For example, human brains need oxygen and water to function, so it is important that schools have appropriate mechanical systems for supplying outside air. The latest “Green” technologies utilize CO2 sensors as an effective and efficient way to control ventilation based on demand rather than code prescriptive formulas that remain set at a constant predetermined level. Even something as simple as deciding where and how many water fountains are available, and ensuring the water tastes good, is an essential aspect of creating an optimized learning environment.
Thermal comfort and lighting play important roles in facilitating interaction and learning as well. Keeping the room at a comfortable temperature may not be best accomplished with the current systems conventional buildings use; other technologies that are more efficient and allow flexibility for individual room controls should be investigated. A combination of natural light and artificial light is believed to be the best conditions to keep students attentive, so design that considers capitalizing on natural resources should be implemented. Capturing natural light, as well as utilizing design principles that create passive solar heating during the winter months and natural cooling effects during the warm months, are key. By focusing on room locations, window sizing, window placement, and glazing selection, much can be accomplished.
The acoustical performance of the learning space is also paramount to quality of learning and socialization. The research states that on any given school day, thousands of students across the country are unable to understand 25 – 30 percent of what is said in their classroom because excessive noise and reverberation interferes with their ability to clearly hear their teacher. The result is a decreased level of concentration, an increased level of stress, and an overall reduction in the level of learning. It is imperative that students in the back of a classroom hear and understand what is being said at the front. With this in mind, we will be considering reverberation time, background noise, noise level, and noise traveling from one room to another when deciding on a direction for our possible renovations. Cafeteria noise, which can sometimes feel almost deafening, must also be addressed, and we are investigating installing acoustical tiles to lower the “noise level” of the cafeteria at Duzine.
In addition to the instructional benefits of Green buildings, they are less expensive to operate in the long term. We must carefully consider the true life-cycle cost of operation; focusing not just on construction costs, but also on energy, maintenance, and replacement costs. We will be seeking out the best decisions on flooring, roofing, wall, and other building systems based on total life-cycle cost of ownership. Better quality extends life, minimizes maintenance, can be more efficient, and eliminates the waste created by more frequent replacement, making them more “environmentally friendly.” We recognize the vital role of durable products and ease of maintenance in keeping buildings healthy and safe. Healthy, safe buildings can contribute to lower absenteeism rates and increased productivity of the occupants. Minimizing maintenance costs also save tax dollars.
Properly designed Green buildings can use up to 50% less energy than a conventional building. This is important to our environment because buildings account for 30% of overall energy use and 60% of electricity used in the Untied States. Buildings use a larger share of energy than industry or transportation sectors.
Taking all of this into account, planning to be “Green” in New Paltz Central School District means investigating the following:
· water efficiency and availability through innovative plumbing systems, which will conserve natural resources;
· natural lighting or “daylighting” combined with energy-efficient lighting, which can save energy and enhance learning conditions;
· improved acoustics, which create healthier environments and improve learning;
· thermal indoor comfort (temperature levels), which will enhance productivity and keep students more alert and fresher;
· providing cleaner air with windows that open or ventilation systems that provide a constant supply of air (including mold prevention by installing mechanisms that keep relative humidity below 60%), which create healthier environments that decrease illnesses and absenteeism;
· the use of low-emitting materials such as ceiling tiles, wall systems, and furniture made with non-toxic materials designed to improve air quality in classrooms and throughout the school;
· Green roofs
· other methods to improve overall sustainability that allow nature and humanity to coexist, or as the American Institute of Architects state: “An approach that holistically and creatively addresses land use, site ecology, community design and connections, water use, energy performance, energy security, materials and construction, light and air, bioclimatic design, and issues of long life and loose fit (flexibility and beauty).”
