Building Greener Schools

What saves $100,000 per year, saves $12 per square foot in long-term direct savings, reduces energy usage by 30%-50%, reduces water usage by 30%-45%, and only increases average construction costs by 2% (but does not have two thumbs)? That's right, Green Schools.

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.

Schools foster higher education, so it makes sense to inform the future movers and shakers of our world with information vital and relevant for the years to come. Let's connect the dots here. Environmentalism is still a shaky topic. Will it just cost more tax payers' money? Is it just a hype? Why are speculative questions about how much we are willing to put into Mother Earth being raised now when she has been spinning for 4.6 billion years already? Hm, schools are failing to inform children with information that they will surely use in their futures, information concerning the environment.

The U.S. Green Building Council is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community of leaders working to make green buildings available to everyone within a generation. By building schools with materials that harbor renewable resources and utilize recycled products in addition to education, this council can influence others to allow nascent minds to bloom in appropriate educational settings.

Here are steps to make your school green.

Initiative steps taken to reduce costs and contribute to a healthier environment are: utilizing natural sunlight in addition to light sensors to activate electrical lights, harnessing solar panels, recycling, prompting alternative transportation methods, switching to reflective insulation paint, reducing a reliance on artificial heating and cooling systems, and so on.