Green SchoolsJohn Henry

Educational Information and Resource Center (EIRC)USGBC Green School Advocate

jhenry@eirc.org

Carol JamesProgram Coordinator

EIRC Green Schools Leadership Institute

www.greenschoolsforteachers.wikispaces.com

USGBC NJ Chapter Green Schools Committee

Objectives

1. Understand Fundamentals of Sustainability2. Why Green Schools3. What is LEED4. PBL and 21st Century Teaching and Learning using LEED

and the systems of a building as a framework for instruction

5. Use UbD template to develop a draft lesson6. Action plan for your school7. Resources ( Green Schools For Teachers Wiki)

Green Schools Give and Get

http://todaysmeet.com/Greenschools_shu

Fundamentals of Sustainability? Fundamentals of Sustainability?

• Historical Perspective• Human Technological Impacts• The Human Built Environment• Natural Resources• Habit Change – Action Steps• Regenerative

 

Understand Fundamentals of Sustainability

Fundamentals of Sustainability? Fundamentals of Sustainability?

What is sustainability?

 

Economy Society

Environment

Planet

PeopleProfit

The United Nations Definition of Sustainability

”Sustainable Development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" Sustainable

development is a balance of three dimensions: Environmental Protection, Economic Growth and Social Development.

Fundamentals of Sustainability? Fundamentals of Sustainability?

How Sustainable is your School?

Green Schools Quiz

 

The Story of Stuff

Engagement Activities and Resources

Fundamentals of Sustainability? Fundamentals of Sustainability?

Why Green Schools?

Fundamentals of Sustainability? Fundamentals of Sustainability?

Healthier Schools at Lower Cost

What is a Green School?• 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

Benefits of green schools• A healthy, productive learning environment• Improved teacher retention• Financial savings• Hands-on learning• Environmentally Friendly

The Alliance for Saving Energy

USGBC, Green Schools CampaignA Green School:

– Improves education through hands-on, real-world learning about energy and energy efficiency

– Strengthens schools by saving money on energy costs

Some call Green Schools “High-Performance Schools”

A high performance school is:

Healthy Comfortable Energy Efficient Material Efficient Easy to Maintain and Operate Environmentally Responsive

Site

Impacts Local Communities Stimulating Architecture Hands on Learning Adaptable to Changing Needs Opportunity to increase

academic performance by using the building as a teaching tool and engaging students in real-world experiences relevant to their life

The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS)

Why a Green schools

1.Teach

a) problem solving skills

b) Brainstorming skills

c) Decision making skills

2. Prepare

a) students for the future workforce (green collar careers)

Why a Green Schools? 3. Provide

a) Opportunity to work with Problem Based Learning

4. Immerse students

a) In collaborative, interdisciplinary, technology rich experiences

Why a Green Schools?

5. Understand

a) Connections between society, economy and the environment

6. Investigate and Discover the Lifecycles of Materials and Processes

Why a Green Schools? 7. Participate

a) In real-world environmental situations that will impact local communities

8. Explore and improve Environmental literacy so students they sustainability as a way of life, not an option

Green Schools

What does the research say?

National Institute of Building Scienceshttp://www.edfacilities.org/rl/high_performance.cfm

National Academies Presshttp://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11756

2007 Pew Research Center for the People and the Press

Global Warming and Climate Change is a major concern and

should be at the top of our educational and workforce initiatives and

public priority.

Engaging Students through the Lens of Sustainability

Begins at School…

Is transferable to the Home…

And results in Community Change and Green Career Opportunities…

What Is LEED?

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) created LEED as a rating system for green building.  Green building refers to the design, construction, and operation of buildings in an environmentally friendly way.

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, and indoor environmental quality

• Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council in 2007

• Inspired the creation of the national Green Schools initiative

• LEED Is the nationally recognized benchmark for building green schools

• The LEED Rating System recognizes the unique nature of the design and construction of K-12 schools

• Provides a unique, comprehensive tool for schools that wish to build green or transition an existing building with measurable results

• Certification provides parents, teachers and the community with a “report card” for their school buildings – verifying that the school has been built to meet the highest level of performance

LEED for Schools…

Test

What is the LEED System?

LEADERSHIP inENERGY andENVIRONMENTALDESIGN

A leading-edge system for certifyingDESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, & OPERATIONSof the greenest buildings in the world

Scores are tallied for different aspects of efficiency and design in appropriate categories.

For instance, LEED assesses in detail:

1. Site Planning2. Water Management3. Energy Management4. Material Use5. Indoor Environmental Air Quality6. Innovation & Design Process

Save Money--Stats from usgbc

U.S. Building Impacts:

12%Water Use

30%GreenhouseGas Emissions

65%WasteOutput

70%ElectricityConsumption

Average Savings of Green Buildings

ENERGYSAVINGS

30%

CARBONSAVINGS

35%

WATERUSE

SAVINGS30-50%

WASTECOST

SAVINGS50-90%

Source:Capital E

Lesson Plan and Curriculum Development based on the

LEED for Schools Green Building Rating System

• Sustainable Sites• Water Efficiency• Energy and Atmosphere• Materials and Resources• Indoor Environmental Quality• Innovation and Design Process

– Using the School as a Teaching Tool

Green Schools 4.0

Connecting to a community of Learners to a world that acts as a learning laboratory

Through… Technology

21st Century Skills and

A Problem Based learning Approach

21st Century Framework

http://www.p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=254&Itemid=119

Standard 9: 21st-Century Life and Careers includes six strands, which reflect the Framework for 21st Century Learning:

• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving • Creativity and Innovation

• Collaboration, Teamwork, and Leadership • Cross-Cultural Understanding and Interpersonal Communication

• Communication and Media Fluency • Accountability, Productivity, and Ethics

http://www.state.nj.us/education/cccs/2009/final.htm

Green Schools Curriculum Framework based on the

LEED Rating System for Green Buildings tied to local, state and national standards and 21st Century skills.

Infuses Project and Problem Based Learning as a pedagogical style and an instructional strategy

Sustainable sites

• Alternative transportation (bicycles, no idling, carpool, bio and EV’s)• Pollution Prevention • Environmental Site Assessment • Protect or Restore Habitat • Heat Island Effect, Non-Roof • Heat Island Effect, Roof • Green Roof • Light Pollution • Joint Use of Facilities• GPS and Google Earth• Impact of Construction on sites• Divert construction materials from landfill • Capstone sustainable site project (student choice)

Water Efficiency

• Water Efficient Landscaping • Irrigation • Innovative Water and Wastewater Technologies • Water Reduction in your school (saving energy by using less water) • Track water use in the school • Quality of potable water • Water quality in rivers, streams and ponds and identify causes and solutions. • Rainwater Harvesting• Capstone water efficiency project (student choice)

Energy, and Atmosphere

• Building Energy Systems (assessment) • Energy audits • Energy Performance (monitoring)• Optimize Energy Performance (New Buildings vs. Existing Buildings) • Green Power, solar, wind, geothermal and others• The transition from current energy production methods to new• Global warming and climate change • How green buildings can significantly reduce the negative impact on greenhouse gas emissions • Energy conservation (habit changes and technologies)• Energy policy and politics• Capstone energy project (student choice)

Materials and Resources. The Three R’s…Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

• Waste management, Storage & Collection of Recyclables• Regionally produced products (saving energy by reducing the energy used for transportation) • Material conservation and financial savings• Material and product reuse• New materials that are being produced using recycled content• School & community recycling projects (Service Learning)• Local and global resources• Green purchasing • Populations and various other factors that will impact how and where we live in the future• Cradle to Cradle• Capstone recycling project (student choice)

Indoor Environmental Quality

• Related research, science and technologies of indoor environmental quality• Indoor environmental quality assessment, data collection, analysis and action steps• Acoustical quality• Outdoor air and ventilation quality• Low emitting materials• Indoor chemicals and pollutant control, green cleaning and green hygiene (pesticides)• Lighting system and saving energy by controls and habit change • Daylight and views (energy savings)• Thermal comfort (saving energy by control technology) • Mold prevention• Capstone Indoor Environmental Quality project (student choice)

Innovation and Design Process:

Activity 1. Existing Building

Students conduct a school-wide audit to determine how sustainable the school building is. Then students make recommendations for effective changes necessary to

upgrade, and improve, water efficiency, energy, materials and resources and indoor environmental quality.

Innovation and Design Process:

Activity 2. New Construction

Students take on the roles of the various trades to help design a green building.

Their design will focus on having the least amount of impact to the environment and to the inhabitants that will

occupy the building as well as using the least amount of energy

Project and Problem Based Learning

Project and Problem Based Learning

• Begins with an “ill-structured” problem (the scenario)• just enough information to entice students but not guide them• interesting to the student to capture their attention• be age appropriate and scaffold for success• be curriculum and standards based

• Student always need more information that what is initially presented

• There is no right or wrong ways to study a problem. The process sometimes depends on the problem itself

• The problem and the direction may change as information is collected

• There are no right or wrong solutions only good and poor choices

Project and Problem Based Learning

• Capitalizes on Student Interest using real-world problems (start local)

• It is a “process” approach rather than a “content” approach

• Students acquire knowledge by using processes such as exploration, research and collaboration

• project and problem based learning have many similarities

• Student learn to formulate problem statements, • develop action plans• conduct information searches • use data• find and apply resources• work collaboratively with others both within the school and outside the school• arrive at conclusions and communicate finding to others (shared knowledge)

Project and Problem Based Learning

• Can be used successfully by students as early as 2nd grade (inquiry)

• Is student centered and teacher facilitated. Students take the lead in planning, directing, tacking and completing their work

• Helps students connect new information to concepts they already know

• Is often used as an engagement tool connecting relevance to content and other skills

• Is standards based, but not all of the standards may be completely known at first

• The teacher must be willing to work with a degree of vagueness and uncertainty

• Allows for student learning beyond the walls of the classroom

• Integrates web 2.0 technologies and 21st century skills

Understanding by Design Template for Green Schools Lesson Development

NJ Green Program of Study

Brainstorm a lesson idea

New or existing lesson

Strategic Plan for your school

Explore Resources

http://greenschoolsforteachers.wikispaces.com/

http://www.scorecard.org/