Green Schools John Henry Educational Information and Resource Center (EIRC) USGBC Green School Advocate [email protected] www.greenschoolsforteachers.wikispaces.com
Jan 19, 2016
Green SchoolsJohn Henry
Educational Information and Resource Center (EIRC)USGBC Green School Advocate
Green School /grEn skül / n. a school building or facility that creates a healthy environment that is
conducive to learning while saving energy, resources and money
The Human Built Environment
Currently, Sustainable Practices are an option, not
a way of life
The Road to Copenhagen
a Climate Change Initiative
1273 Wood- and coal-burning fires shroud English towns in smoke. Local regulations
attempt to control the problem but fail.
Atmospheric concentrations of CO2 are about 280 parts per million (ppm).
1750 Industrial Revolution begins in Manchester, England.
Coal powers the mills.
1899 America's first environmental law is passed. The Rivers and Harbors Act
makes it a misdemeanor to dump refuse into navigable waters without a permit.
1904 America's first solar-powered electrical plant is built in St. Louis by the Willsie Sun
Power Company.
Soon another plant is built, in the Mojave Desert at Needles, California. But within a few years Willsie is driven out of business
by cheaper coal/gas facilities.
1937 The term "greenhouse effect" is coined by Glenn Thomas Trewartha, a professor
whose obscure textbook on weather describes how water vapor, CO2 and
other gases act like glass in a greenhouse.
1948 Smog chokes the small industrial town of Donora, Pennsylvania. In five days twenty
people die, and 6,000 are sick or hospitalized.
Air pollution becomes a national political issue.
1952 London smog, the product of a thermal inversion, kills 4,000 people in two weeks. Four years later, England's Clean Air Act
becomes law.
1958 Atmospheric CO2 concentrations reach 315 ppm. In Hawaii, Dr. Charles
Keeling begins the first continuous long-term study of atmospheric CO2 levels.
1963 First Clean Air Act in the US is
passed into law.
American smokestacks are subjected to
pollution controls.
1970 First Earth Day, one of the largest demonstrations in US history, is held.
1969-73 The National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act and the
Endangered Species Act all become law.
The Environmental Protection Agency is created.
1972 First UN conference on the environment is held. The United Nations
Environment Program is created.
It will be the framework for international cooperation on environmental issues.
1973 Arab oil embargo begins. Oil prices quadruple.
1978 Fuel-economy regulations are introduced in the United States for
passenger vehicles. New cars must now get at least eighteen miles per gallon.
1979 Revolution in Iran sends oil prices surging, prompts "second oil crisis."
Carter installs a solar-powered water heater on the White House roof
1981 Election of Ronald Reagan brings environmental backlash. Interior Secretary.
Federal grants for solar energy are slashed.
The solar water heater on the White House is junked. America's nascent alternative energy
industry collapses.
1985 - The Alliance For NJ Environmental Education is Founded (ANJEE)
1985 Hole in the ozone layer is discovered over Antarctica.
1986 Atmospheric concentrations of CO2 reach 350 ppm.
1988 Senator Al Gore holds hearings on
climate change.
NASA climate scientist James Hansen predicts rising sea levels and dangerous extreme weather by the end of the next century if fossil fuel consumption is
not drastically reduced.
1988 UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is created
1994 - The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) began its
development founded and spearheaded by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
senior scientist
Robert K. Watson
1997 Kyoto Protocol is negotiated. Industrialized countries agree to reduce their collective
greenhouse gas emissions to 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
US Senate refuses to ratify Kyoto.
In 2000, US Green Building Council established the Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED) rating system as a way to define and measure “Green Buildings.”
July, 2000
State of New JerseyExecutive Order #24
Governor James E. McGreevey
Designates that all new school design shall incorporate the guidelines developed by the US Green Building Council known as Leadership in
Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) to achieve maximum energy efficiency and environmental
sustainability in the design of schools.
2001 President George W. Bush renounces the Kyoto Protocol as bad for the US economy.
Other nations carry on without the United States and continue their
ratifications of the treaty.
2005 Kyoto treaty comes into effect and is eventually ratified by all major industrial
nations except the United States.
Work to reduce emissions accelerates in Japan,
Western Europe and even among some US state and local governments.
2007 Pew Research Center for the People and the Press
2007 International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates cost of stabilizing greenhouse gases
at $1.8 trillion.
Green Buildings could be considered
Economic Stimulus
The process of greening a school building can be considered the ultimate teaching and
learning lab
2006-2007 the US Green Building Council - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) for Schools is created)
2007 Green Schools Advocacy Campaign begins
LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health:
• sustainable site development
• water savings• energy efficiency
• materials selection• indoor environmental quality
LEED for Schools is…
A nationally recognized benchmark for building and maintaining green schools that recognizes the unique
nature of K-12 environments
In school terms, LEED is like a report card for buildings, demonstrating to the community that a facility is built and/or operated in a way that supports the health and wellbeing of occupants and saves energy, resources,
and money
Provides comprehensive tools for schools that wish to build green or transition an existing building with
measurable results
LEED for Schools…
In order to achieve the vision of “green schools for every child within a generation,” we must not only build new schools that are
green, we have to transform our Existing Schools.
The Transition is about Leadership
Making the Case For Green Schools
Be the Advocate…
if not you who - if not now when
Why are Green Schools Important?
Why is it important?
Healthier Schools at Lower Cost
Connecting Sustainability and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
Rising Above the Gathering Storm
Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future
Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st Century: An Agenda for American Science and Technology, National Academy of
Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine
FINDINGS
Having reviewed trends in the United States and abroad, the committee is deeply concerned that the scientific and
technological building blocks critical to our economic leadership are eroding at a time when many other
nations are gathering strength.
Sustainability Fuels STEM
We designed and engineered our way into these problems, we can design and engineer our way out
Our challenge and opportunity for greening our schools and obtaining a sustainable future
can be viewed as the 21st Century Sputnik
Planting green jobsBusinesses, ventures and proposals that could help satisfy
new renewable energy requirements
The Role of the Government in Advancing the Green Economy
The Best Way To Create 'Green' Jobs
"Going Green" is no longer ju
st a
slogan for m
any global companies, it's
becoming a strategic im
perative.
2009 Legislation on Green JobsThe Vital Role of COMMUNITY
COLLEGES in Building
a Sustainable Future and
GREEN WORKFORCE
Energy Maste
r
Plan
and Jobs
Clean Energy Sales
Biofue
l Jobs
Solar Jobs
K-12 Education- The pipeline to Green Job
Green Engineering for our Future
Green jobs involve environmentally friendly products and services or businesses and
organizations that concern themselves with improving the environment.
NJ BPU
Green Jobs Defined
What is Sustainability?
Understanding Sustainability … A Prerequisite for any Green Career
What is Sustainability?
In July 2009, NJ was selected by the US Department of Education to participate along with four other states in a
Technical Assistance Academy to develop a “Green” Program of Study for career and technical education.
The New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools (NJCCVTS) and the New Jersey Department of
Education (NJDOE)
What is Sustainability?
Solar Energy and other renewable Energy Sources
Conservation
Generation
Career and Technical Education Pathways
Retraining Programs
How Do You Transform Your School?
Create the Pathway Unique to Your School
Strategic Planning
Random Acts of Improvement in Isolation
“Better” Random Improvement- with local community collaboration
04/21/23
Intentional and Strategic Improvements with regional collaboration
The Systems of the School Building as a Framework for Teaching and Learning
Create Units and Lesson plans using the existing framework of USGBC LEED Rating System
SUSTAINABLE SITESGOAL:
UNDERSTANDINGHABITATS &
HUMAN IMPACT
INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL
QUALITY
GOAL:HUMAN HEALTH
MATERIALS &RESOURCES
GOAL:NATURAL RESOURCE
CONSERVATION
ENERGY &ATMOSPHERE
GOAL:CONSERVATION &
RENEWABLE SOURCES
WATEREFFICIENCY
GOAL:CONSERVATION &
REUSE
Know What Resources are Available
Local, State,
National
EIRC DEP
ANJEE LSC
Educators
DOE
http://www.greenschoolbuildings.org/Homepage.aspx
http://www.usgbcnj.org/
http://www.usgbcnj.org/
http://www.usgbcnj.org/speakers_bureau.html
http://greenschoolsforteachers.wikispaces.com/
In 2008 the USGBC-NJ Chapter established the Green Schools
Committee - a unique combination of Green Building Industry Professionals,
Environmental Educators, and Government Agencies
Robert Gillman, editor of the In Context Magazine, extends this goal oriented
definition by stating "sustainability refers to a very old and simple concept (The Golden Rule)...do onto future generations as you would have them do onto you.
William McDonough