Thirty-eight percent of greenhouse gases are emitted from the construction, operation and maintenance of buildings and the transportation requirements of such activities. Public schools alone contribute billions of pounds of solid waste annually in addition to their impact on climate change. Communities looking to build new schools or retrofit existing ones have the opportunity and responsibility to do so in an environmentally sustainable manner. Schools have an unusually rare and important opportunity to set an example for communities and their children regarding responsible citizenship and careful stewardship of natural resources. High performance schools demonstrate the value of environmental efficiency, sustainability, and respect at every turn, all the while making sense from a public health, economic, and educational perspective.

Environmentally preferable materials and products
Energy efficient building envelope
Energy modeling tools
Environmentally responsive site planning
Renewable energy technologies
Daylighting
High efficiency electric lighting
High performance Heating/Ventilation/Air Conditioning
Water efficiency
Recycling and Composting Waste

Environmentally Preferable Materials and Products
High performance schools use recyclable, recycled, durable, non-toxic, renewable, and locally manufactured materials and products whenever possible. This commitment makes environmental and economic sense while serving to reduce liability exposure, keep occupants healthy, and educate students on the importance of environmental stewardship and responsibility.

High performance schools encourage composting and recycling of construction wastes and daily operational wastes by providing for receptacles and storage facilities early in the design phase. Students are encouraged to invest in the process and to adopt the environmental ethics and standards as their own.

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Energy Efficient Building Envelope
The building envelope, or shell, refers to the walls, roofs, floors, windows, and doors, and, if poorly executed, can have a major impact on the building’s total energy consumption. A school cannot perform efficiently or economically without a well-designed, functional envelope, as nearly all other systems (i.e., lighting, heating, cooling, air exchange) are influenced by it.

A whole-building, proactive approach is of the utmost importance in constructing an envelope that is secure, durable, easily maintained, and acoustically, thermally, and visually comfortable. High performance schools take issues of insulation, daylight transmittance, solar heat gain, local climatic conditions, shading, air leakage control, and the thermal mass and reflective qualities of building materials into account from the site-selection stage forward. These considerations can reduce the size and cost of heating/ventilating/air conditioning systems, helping to save money and natural resources.

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Energy Modeling Tools
Energy modeling tools make possible accurate and readily available analyses of energy consumption and allow comparison and manipulation of energy variables to determine greatest efficiency. These computer simulations are run by your architect, your mechanical engineer, or by a third-party professional. Working early on in the design process, these models can be used to inform the building design strategies and offer energy performance savings.

In addition, energy modeling tools can be used as educational resources that offer real, dynamic data to students and encourage their interest in the efficiency of their school and the health of the environment.

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Environmentally Responsive Site Planning
Site selection has an enormous impact on cost-effectiveness insofar as it influences daylighting, heating/ventilating/air conditioning systems, safety, accessibility, and the use of renewable energy. High performance schools in New Hampshire take advantage of the lighting and heating/ventilating/air conditioning savings offered them with passive solar orientation of the building along an east-west axis. South and north facing windows will maximize high-quality daylight, while an absence of easterly and westerly windows will reduce heating and cooling loads.

Site design that reduces vehicular travel to and from school while encouraging walkability will reduce fuel use and emissions while encouraging fitness. One way of addressing the epidemic of obesity is to have children walk to school versus busing. There are also financial savings to communities that use fewer buses.

The use of native vegetation can reduce watering and pesticide application requirements and serve as a learning opportunity for students that fosters knowledge and respect for local flora. Good site selection and design will protect local ecosystems, conserve water, control erosion, utilize sources of renewable energy, and help link the school to the community.

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Renewable Energy Technologies
New Hampshire’s renewable energy resources are sufficient to provide savings via daylighting, passive and active water and space heating and cooling, integrated photovoltaic systems, natural ventilation, wind power, wood and biomass heating, hydroelectric power, and bio-diesel fuel. With the cost of fossil fuels (i.e., oil, propane, natural gas) rising, renewable energy technologies can be implemented into schools with as little as a two-year return on investment. These innovative and intelligent technologies will reduce air pollution while helping to introduce and acclimate students to the future of energy.

Typical renewable energy technologies in New Hampshire include solar panels for heating hot water, solar electric panels for electricity generation, wind turbines for electricity generation, and wood-pellet or wood-chip boilers for heating water and space heating. New Hampshire’s forest products industry is a direct provider of the fuel for the last technology, making the use of these products a boost to our local economy.

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Daylighting
Natural daylight is the highest quality light for visual tasks. In several studies, abundant daylight has been shown to improve student achievement on standardized tests by as much as 26%. Furthermore, daylight reduces the need for electric lighting, thereby reducing operational lighting costs and cooling costs, as heat is a byproduct of electric lighting.

The admission of daylight through appropriately positioned windows, skylights, and roof monitors, such that glare and excessive heat loss and gain are avoided, is a cost-effective and energy efficient means of improving productivity, visual comfort, and natural ventilation. What’s more, daylighting reduces the use of nonrenewable, green-house-gas producing fossil fuels and provides students a visual and physical connection with the outdoors.

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High Efficiency Electric Lighting
Electric lighting can account for as much as 50% of a school’s electric power requirements. High quality, efficient electric lighting and fixtures may require a slightly higher initial investment, but the operations savings typically payback that increase within the first year or two of operation. Such preemptive planning, when used in concert with daylighting design and technology, will optimize visual quality and efficiency. The utility companies in New Hampshire offer rebate programs for school districts who wish to undertake lighting upgrades or install new, efficient lighting. When used in combination with daylighting strategies and integrated controls, even more energy can be saved.

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High Performance Heating/Ventilating/Air Conditioning
Ventilation is critically important in all occupied buildings, but none more so than schools. Because of their small size and rapid respiration rate, children breathe a greater volume of air proportionally than adults, and the occupant-to-space ratio is higher in schools than in offices and residences. The poor air quality and thermal discomfort of poorly functioning heating/ventilating/air conditioning systems negatively affect the health, morale, and productivity of students and teachers. What’s more, many heating/ventilating/air conditioning systems are inefficient and oversized resulting in excessive and costly energy consumption. In 2000, 53% of New Hampshire schools reported problems with their heating/ventilating/air conditioning systems.

Because of the integrated and energy efficient approach of high performance school design, heating and cooling loads are reduced and, as such, heating/ventilating/air conditioning systems can be downsized. For instance, more insulation in the walls and roof combined with more energy efficient windows and doors, will result in smaller heating/ventilating/air conditioning system requirements. Smaller high efficiency equipment is cheaper to purchase and operate over the life of the building, resulting in significant savings. Individual heating/ventilating/air conditioning controls in classrooms allow teachers to optimize teaching and learning conditions for themselves and their students.

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Water Efficiency
Although fresh water is not as scarce in New Hampshire as it is in other parts of the country, measures should still be taken to minimize water consumption. Many of our schools tie in to city or town water systems and pay monthly costs for this utility. Controlling runoff, treating and reusing wastewater, and employing water-efficient landscaping practices can reduce a school’s operating expenses while protecting the environment and educating students about ecological processes and conservation. Simple measures, such as low-flow water fixtures (i.e., faucets and toilets) or waterless urinals, can have dramatic reductions in water use with fairly rapid paybacks.

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Recycling and Composting Waste
High performance schools encourage composting and recycling of wastes by providing for receptacles and storage facilities early in the design phase. Students are encouraged to invest in the process and to adopt the environmental ethics and standards as their own.

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