Tony Ruebsam is a project manager and LEED® Accredited Professional with S.M. Wilson & Company in St. Louis, Missouri.
The sustainable construction boom now has school districts evaluating the cost and benefits of building and operating sustainable schools designed to the LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building rating system.
Faced with limited construction budgets and high expectations for student performance, educators are discovering that "green" design of school buildings results in a better learning environment, significant long-term operational cost savings and durable buildings that will last for 30 to 50 years.
Illinois has five schools that have been LEED® certified and another 50 that have been registered. Three of the five are in Chicago: Tarkington School of Excellence, Albany Park Middle School and the United Neighborhood Organization's Brighton Park School. The other two are: Bolingbrook High School in Valley View CUSD 356U and Prairie Crossing Charter School in Grayslake.
What is LEED®?
Conceived in the 1990s, the LEED® rating system aims to reduce the environmental impact of building construction and operations through product selection, site design, energy efficiency, water conservation and indoor environment quality. Design elements are awarded points based on their impact in these five areas.
The system also recognizes construction activities such as recycling construction waste and preventing storm water runoff.
The rating system covers nearly all types of building construction. Since a school operates differently than an industrial building or office space, LEED® for Schools includes some unique credits specific to school design:
With any new school design, the most important criteria is to provide a classroom environment that enhances education, provides a healthy environment and promotes creative thinking. Besides providing the best resources (teachers, computers, educational programs, etc.), school administrators know the ideal learning environment begins with the building itself.
Creating and maintaining this environment has been the aim of studies by educational institutions, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and even psychologists. An EPA study released in 1995 illustrates how using non-toxic construction materials improves indoor environmental quality, which has a direct impact on occupant health, resulting in less student and staff absenteeism.
Similar studies show the enormous benefits of naturally lit spaces and improved acoustics on building occupants' health, mental attitude and ability to focus and retain information, leading to higher test scores.
The Center for Disease Control lists asthma as one of the leading causes of school absenteeism. Since children spend a lot of time at school, schools should have high standards of indoor air quality. Air conditioning, heating and ventilation equipment needs to provide adequate fresh air and have filters to adequately reduce contaminants in the air. Operable windows can also be used to provide fresh air.
Life-cycle costs
Aside from the effects of the indoor environmental quality on students, the LEED® rating system addresses a very important element of design and construction that is often overlooked: life-cycle cost.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, the operation and maintenance costs of a building for 30 years are three times as much as the initial construction cost. Consequently, a major focus of building design should be reducing operation and maintenance costs.
The simplest example demonstrating the benefits of life-cycle cost analysis is energy efficiency. High-efficiency HVAC equipment is often more complex and therefore more expensive. Even though lower operation costs would recoup the initial premium in less than 10 years, designers are often hindered by tight construction budgets and have to sacrifice long-term savings to maintain these budgets. Technological advances in HVAC equipment are bringing premiums down and reducing payback periods, making these upgrades more practical for tight budgets.
Likewise, better insulation systems may cost more up front but reduce energy consumption and may even allow the engineers to specify smaller, less expensive HVAC equipment because of the reduced heat losses and gains through the building envelope. Better insulation also contributes to consistent heat distribution throughout the building and increased occupant comfort.
Product durability is another design factor often sacrificed for initial cost. Inexpensive building materials keep construction costs down, but do not tend to last very long.
For example, installing a flooring product that wears quickly and needs to be replaced every 10 years may save money initially, but it makes more sense to pay twice as much for one that lasts 40 years. Similarly, product maintenance should be heavily considered as a cost variable. Flooring that must be waxed frequently will cost more to maintain than flooring that requires infrequent waxing or that does not require waxing at all.
Energy efficiency, insulation and product durability are only three design components that illustrate the benefits of life-cycle cost analysis. When designers evaluate an entire project to minimize life-cycle cost, the long-term financial benefit is maximized. Most businesses use this type of analysis when evaluating expenses because it results in the highest long-term profits.
Because schools build facilities to last for 30 to 50 years or more, it makes sense to evaluate the cost of those facilities for their intended life rather than initial cost alone.
Important questions
When looking at new facility designs, important questions should be asked:
The answer to these questions is a resounding "No." Instead, they should ask:
LEED® for Schools is an excellent tool to assist with these decisions and evaluate the sustainability of a facility. It offers measurable criteria that help improve school facility performance over the course of its life.
Regardless of the school, the LEED® system helps school leadership make facility decisions that significantly reduce operating costs, provide a durable building to last generations and enhance student performance.