Energy Efficiency

For more information on Energy Efficiency, visit:

ENERGY STAR For Schools
The ENERGY STAR For Schools program links energy and financial performance and protects the environment.

Featured Energy Efficiency Resources:

Healthy School Environments Assessment Tool (HealthySEAT)
HealthySEAT is a new software tool from EPA designed to help school districts conduct voluntary, customized self-assessments of their school facilities for environmental, health, and safety hazards.
Source: EPA - Office of Air and Radiation - Indoor Environments Division
http://www.epa.gov/schools

California Portable Classrooms Study
The Air Resources Board (ARB) and Department of Health Services (DHS) completed a comprehensive study of the environmental health conditions in portable (relocatable) classrooms. This study investigated classrooms in kindergarten through 12th grade public schools and included a large representative sample.
Source: California Air Resources Board
http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/indoor/pcs/pcs.htm

California -- Sustainable Schools
This website provides a diverse collection of sustainable building resources that will help schools create high performance educational facilities that will ensure the optimal health and productivity of students and faculty.
Source: California Division of the State Architect
http://www.sustainableschools.dgs.ca.gov/sustainableschools/

Collaborative for High Performance Schools
The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) aims to increase the energy efficiency of public schools in California by marketing information, service, and incentive programs directly to school districts and designers. The Collaborative's goal is to facilitate the design of high performance schools: environments that are not only energy efficient, but also healthy, comfortable, well lit, and contain the amenities needed for a quality education.
Source: Collaborative for High Performance Schools
http://www.chps.net/

Energy Star New Building Design Process
The New Building Design Guidance is a series of strategic checklists with related resources for each step in the design process. The strategic checklist is a management tool that outlines the necessary steps for your team to achieve its goals. It will help you understand what and why certain actions should occur in order to reach the desired outcome.
Source: EPA - Energy Star Hotline
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=new_bldg_design.new_bldg_design

Energy Star for Schools
Through the Energy Star program, EPA partners with K-12 school districts, colleges, and universities across the country, providing technical support, guidance on financing options, and recognition for schools wanting to use energy more efficiently. Energy Star has coordinated with EPA's Indoor Air Quality program to address the overlap between energy efficiency upgrades and indoor environmental quality, and it has launched an energy performance rating tool in schools.
Source: EPA - Energy Star
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=k12_schools.bus_schoolsk12

Environmental Compliance and Best Management Practices Guidance Manual
This comprehensive environmental manual is available on-line in both English and Spanish.
Source: EPA - Region 2
http://www.epa.gov/region02/children/k12/

Greening America's Schools: Costs and Benefits
This report is intended to answer this fundamental question: how much more do green schools cost, and is greening schools cost effective?
Source: Capital E
http://www.cap-e.com/ewebeditpro/items/O59F9819.pdf

High Performance School Design Online Training
Interactive courses on this site are offered free of charge as a public benefit for design and engineering professionals specializing in sustainable design for K-12 schools. High performance school design integrates daylighting, indoor air quality, and energy efficiency to build a school that runs efficiently, saves money, protects natural resources, and provides superior visual, acoustical, and thermal comfort.
Source: New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
http://www.hpschooldesigntraining.com/nyserda/home.jsp

LEED for Schools
The LEED for Schools Rating System recognizes the unique nature of the design and construction of K-12 schools. Based on the LEED for New Construction rating system, it addresses issues such as classroom acoustics, master planning, mold prevention and environmental site assessment.
Source: U.S. Green Building Council
http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=1586

Leading by Example: How EPA Incorporated Environmental Features into New Buildings
This publication provides two case studies to demonstrate how large building projects can cost-effectively incorporate environmental features while addressing the concerns unique to each site. The case studies describe how EPA balanced function, cost, and environmental impact while designing and constructing two new EPA facilities.
Source: EPA - Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics
http://www.epa.gov/oppt/epp/pubs/grnbldg.pdf

New Hampshire Healthy School Environments
This website provides links to resources to help schools assess and address health, safety and environmental issues in school buildings. Both a fact sheet on NH Department of Environmental Services (NH DES) efforts to customize EPA's HealthySEAT , as well as New Hampshire customization of the software may be downloaded from this site.
Source: New Hampshire Department of Envrionmental Services Air Resources Division - Air Resources Division
http://www.des.nh.gov/ARD/EHP/HSE

Portables Tool Kit: A toolkit for parents and school administrators for successful use of portable classrooms.
The Modular Building Institute (MBI) has created its own toolkit of materials that are available to any school district purchaser or facility administrator to help them secure and maintain facilities that provide an optimum learning environment.
Source: Modular Building Institute
http://mbinet.org/htmlPage.aspx?name=news22

Wisconsin - Green Schools Program
The Wisconsin Green Schools Program is a web based, voluntary program available to all K-12 schools across the state. The program encourages teachers, staff and students to work together to use the school, grounds, and community as learning tools to help teach sound environmental practices and promote environmental sustainability. A wide variety of environmental topics are addressed.
Source: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources - Green Schools Program
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/greenSchools

EPA Region 1: Energy & ...Your School
This website links to several sources of energy related information for schools, including: fact sheet, tips on energy efficiency, and Energy Star's Target Finder, amongst other links.
Source: EPA Region 1
http://www.epa.gov/region01/topics/schools/index.html

EPA Region 5 - Pollution Prevention Toolbox
Contains tools for helping teachers integrate Pollution Prevention into the classroom.
Source: EPA Region 5 - Pesticides and Toxics Office
http://www.epa.gov/reg5rcra/wptdiv/p2pages/toolbox.htm

EPA Guide to Protecting Children's Health in Schools
Software tool developed by EPA Region 5 and Purdue University provides information on hazards found in schools, inlcuding a virtual tour of a school, the potential effects of those hazards on children's health, planning tools, case studies, and lnks to resources to help schools prevent and fix environmental problems.
Source: EPA Region 5 & Purdue University
http://www.epa.gov/seahome/child.html

Energy Star School Challenge
This Web site is aimed at helping you to use the Energy Star Program to begin evaluating your building's energy use through "benchmarking". It provides links to funding opportunities and technical expertise to help you upgrade your building and access to resources and tools for you to uncover and implement energy saving solutions. Also included are lesson suggestions for teachers that support Washington State Essential Learning Requirements.
Source: EPA Region 10 - Office for Innovation
http://yosemite1.epa.gov/r10/oi.nsf/webpage/energystarschools

The Green Rider
The purpose of the Green Rider is to provide information on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) programs that promote environmentally and economically sound building practices and energy efficiency. The Green Rider requires the offeror to document the evaluations of green practices and product selections to determine why specific concepts were or were not chosen.
Source: EPA Region 7 - Solid Waste & Pollution Prevention Branch
http://www.epa.gov/region7/p2/greenrider.pdf

Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development
This Web site provides general information on the Department of Energy's Sustainable Development program and includes information on Green Buildings.
Source: Department of Energy
http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/

Federal Energy Management Program
FEMP's Financing Team provides policy guidance and technical and contracting assistance related to private sector funding for Federal energy efficiency, renewable energy, and water conservation projects. This section contains guidance on how agencies can fund these projects.
Source: Department of Energy - Federal Energy Management Program
http://www.eren.doe.gov/femp/financealt.html

Florida Department of Education (DoEd) Safety and Environment Information
Florida DoEd's Bureau of Educational Facilities provides basic technical support for facilities on the responsibilities and concerns of public school boards and community colleges throughout Florida. This website includes links to expert staff personnel and a variety of schools-oriented publications, codes, guidelines and resources.
Source: Florida Department of Education - Office of Chief Financial Officer/Division of Support Services/Bureau of Educational Facilities
http://www.firn.edu/doe/edfacil/safenvir.htm

Kentucky Green and Healthy Schools
The Kentucky Green and Healthy Schools (KGHS) Program is a new, voluntary effort to empower students and staff with the tools needed to take action and make their school operate at peak efficiency.
Source: Kentucky Green and Healthy Schools
http://greenschools.ky.gov/

Maine Department of Education Facilities Management Template
Includes a draft ME School Facilities Maintenance Plan including checklists for Maintenance, Operations, Grounds, Custodial, and Vehicle Services
Source: Maine Department of Education
http://www.maine.gov/education/const/fmt.htm

NCEF Resource List: Energy Savings
NCEF offers an annotated list of links, books, and journal articles providing extensive resources on various methods of heating, cooling, and maintaining new and retrofitted K-12 school buildings and grounds.
Source: National Institute of Building Sciences - National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities
http://www.edfacilities.org/rl/energy.cfm

New England Resources for Schools
This website provides links to the Regional schools topics page, hazardous waste fact sheets, examples of the types of environmental issues found in schools, and other links of interest to the schools community.
Source: EPA Region 1
http://www.epa.gov/ne/assistance/schools/index.html

New Hampshire Partnership for High Performance Schools
A high performance school is "one in which all of its systems function in an efficient and synergistic fashion" and such a school provides "a healthy, comfortable environment that facilitates learning, saves money and helps to protect the environment." This website promotes an initiative by the Jordan Institute to promote high performance schools.
Source: The Jordan Institute
http://www.nhphps.org

The Sustainable Building Technical Manual: Green Building Design, Construction, and Operations
The Sustainable Building Technical Manual: Green Building Design, Construction, and Operations is one of the most comprehensive publications now available to help architects, developers, building owners, government officials, and others implement sustainable development practices.
Source: Department of Energy
http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/freshstart/articles/ptipub.htm

Massachusetts Healthy Schools Web site
The Massachusetts Healthy Schools Web site is a resource for promoting healthy indoor air environments and environmentally sustainable school buildings in Massachusetts.
Source: Massachusetts Public Health Association - Massachusetts Healthy Schools Network
http://www.mphaweb.org/pol_schools.html

Oregon - Resource Efficiency at Oregon Schools and Libraries: Success Stories
Compilation of resource efficiency examples or "vignettes" collected from Oregon schools and libraries. Where information is readily available, estimates of financial and resource savings are included. Contains links to detailed case studies, where applicable.
Source: Oregon Department of Environmental Quality - Solid Waste Policy and Program Development Section
http://www.deq.state.or.us/wmc/solwaste/cwrc/cstudy/school.html

Oregon Green School Tools: Creating Healthy School Environments Through Resource Efficiency
Oregon�s schools are preparing for the 21st century by using resources wisely. Students, parents, and teachers are demonstrating civic pride through a commitment to the environment. This tool is written for principals, custodians, teachers, students, parents, kitchen staff, site councils, classified staff, or school volunteers who are working on improving the health and livability of their school environment.
Source: Oregon Department of Environmental Quality - Solid Waste Policy and Program Development Section
http://www.deq.state.or.us/wmc/solwaste/education/schtools.html

South Carolina - Rebuild South Carolina
The South Carolina Energy Office has developed Rebuild South Carolina Partnerships to bring the benefits of energy efficiency to public agencies and school districts in South Carolina. Includes links to success stories about specific South Carolina school districts.
Source: South Carolina Energy Office
http://www.state.sc.us/energy/Public/rebuildsc.htm

South Carolina Schools Efficiency Grant Initiative
To improve on the quality of the learning environment and to make schools more energy efficient, thereby saving money for other programs, the SCEO developed the Schools Lighting Grant Initiative. With lighting retrofits being the easiest and least expensive first step to energy efficiency, the SCEO encourages schools to give priority consideration to lighting upgrades for their facilities.
Source: South Carolina Energy Office
http://www.state.sc.us/energy/Public/school_grant.htm

Tennessee Green Schools Resource Guide
Provides a list of national resources pertaining to Schools organized by various topics: General Pollution Prevention, Energy Conservation, Land & Water Conservation, Clean Air, Hazardous Materials Management, Waste Reduction, Green Activities, and Environmental Education K-12.
Source: Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's Division of Community Assistance - Tennessee Pollution Prevention Partnership
http://www.state.tn.us/environment/ea/tp3/tp3grschools.php

Vermont Managing School Budgets Through Wood Energy
In a growing number of schools across Vermont, children are learning in warm classrooms heated with wood energy. Wood chip fuel has proven to be a cost-effective alternative to electricity and oil in industrial, commercial, and institutional applications.
Source: Vermont Agency of Natural Resources - Vermont Wood Energy Program
http://www.anr.state.vt.us/env00/8wood.html

Vermont Why P2 In Your School?
This Web site contains a list of Pollution Prevention strategies that can help your school prevent health hazards, create less environmental pollution, and save money.
Source: Vermont Agency of Natural Resources - Pollution Prevention
http://www.anr.state.vt.us/dec/ead/ppap/index.htm

Washington - Seattle Partnership for Resource-Efficient Schools
Seattle Public Schools has organized the Building Excellence program to head this ambitious capital works campaign. A major focus of Building Excellence is to ensure decisions made during the design and construction of these buildings strike a balance between the values of fiscal prudence and providing optimal learning environments for students.
Source: Washington - Seattle Public Utilities
http://www.seattleschools.org/area/facilities/SchoolProjects/BEXIIschools.xml

American School and Hospital Maintenance Magazine
Provides facility managers with information regarding current facility management issues and the latest products. Many of these topics are relevant to maintenance at school facilities.
Source: Continental Communications
http://www.facilitymanagement.com/

BuildingGreen.com
Buildings have a tremendous impact on the environment--both during construction and through their operation. "Green building" is a loosely defined collection of land-use, building design, and construction strategies that reduces these environmental impacts.
Source: Environmental Building News - BuildingGreen, Inc.
http://www.buildinggreen.com/

Environmental Education
EPA's Office of Environmental Education builds partnerships in order to achieve the following goals: link environmental education (EE) to reform efforts, build the capacity of EE provider organizations, and catalyze research that examines EE's effectiveness in achieving environmental protection and education goals.
Source: EPA - Office of Environmental Education
http://www.epa.gov/enviroed

Green Building Source
The Oikos Web site provides links to information on sustainable design, green building, renewable energy, and more.
Source: Oikos - Iris Communications, Inc.
http://oikos.com/

Green Schools Energy Project
Step-by-step guide for implementing an energy saving project in your school district. Includes a fact sheet that briefly explains acid rain, global warming, and air pollution.
Source: Youth for Environmental Sanity (YES!)
http://www.yesworld.org/info/GreenSchoolsManual.pdf

Green Schools Project
The Green Schools program helps schools use energy efficiently through building retrofits, changes in operational and maintenance routines, and changes in the behavior of building users.
Source: Alliance to Save Energy - Green Schools
http://www.ase.org/greenschools/index.htm

Green Seal
Green Seal is the independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the environment by promoting the manufacture and sale of environmentally responsible consumer products. It sets environmental standards and awards a "Green Seal of Approval" to products that cause less harm to the environment than other similar products.
Source: Green Seal
http://www.greenseal.org/

High Performance School Buildings
The Sustainable Buildings Industry Council has developed a High Performance School Buildings (HPSB) campaign to generate interest among school building owners and designers in building a new generation of high performance, sustainable school facilities. Working in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and key schools organizations. The campaign includes workshops, a Resource Guide, and policy analysis.
Source: Sustainable Buildings Industry Council
http://www.sbicouncil.org/workshops_hpsb.htm

Massachusetts - Environmental Management System Implementation in Waltham, MA Public Schools
The Waltham Public Schools has undertaken an innovative approach to managing their environmental affairs by implementing an Environmental Management System (EMS) based on the ISO 14001 international standard.
Source: Waltham Mass. Public Schools
http://www.city.waltham.ma.us/SCHOOL/WebPAge/EMS/EM.htm

Meeting the Challenge: How Energy Performance Contracting Can Help Schools Provide Comfortable, Healthy, and Productive Learning Environments
A book available for purchase that explains how energy performance contracts can help schools meet the challenge of providing comfortable, healthy, and productive learning environments without a negative impact on the school's budget. Sample forms are also included to further simplify the process.
Source: National Association of Energy Service Companies
http://www.naesco.org/bookstore/default.htm

Minnesota Sustainable Design Guide
The Minnesota Sustainable Design Guide is a tool to learn about sustainability, manage design decisions, and integrate sustainable design into the building design and operation processes for new and renovated facilities.
Source: University of Minnesota College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture - CALA Building Research
http://www.msdg.umn.edu/

New York High Performance Building Guidelines
These guidelines outline a range of 'best practices' for planning, designing, constructing and operating healthier, more energy and resource-efficient facilities.
Source: NYC Department of Design and Construction
http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/ddc/html/highperf.html

WaterWiser
WaterWiser is a clearinghouse of the most current, applicable water conservation and efficiency materials available.
Source: American Water Works Association
http://www.waterwiser.org/