After Twenhofel Middle School in Independence, Kentucky, was built in 2007, it became a source of tremendous pride for its students. Brett Emerson, then a seventh-grader, gave weekly tours, because he loved to show off its new geothermal-heating and natural-ventilation systems to anyone who would listen. He loved checking out the "smart" screen in the lobby that displays the school's real-time electricity use. In fact, he was so inspired by his surroundings that he was able to convince the cafeteria director to consider trays made from a biodegradable sugar-cane fiber.
"Once we got this green building, it seemed pretty stupid to be saving all this energy and still be polluting the earth with Styrofoam," he says. Brett's school spirit is not just about doing the right thing—he gets a real kick out of seeing the infrastructure in action. "There's a solar sensor on the roof," he says. "If the sun is shining real bright, it triggers the lights to dim or turn completely off! Watching that stuff work is pretty cool."
All across the country, school districts are investing in buildings that are energy-efficient, nontoxic, and designed from sustainable materials—and not only because of the big-picture lessons such buildings teach their students. According to a 2006 report, "Greening America's Schools," which was conducted by the research and consulting firm Capital E and sponsored by the American Federation of Teachers, the American Lung Association, and the U.S. Green Building Council (among others), green schools reduce a district's energy and water costs and provide an enhanced learning environment. That, in turn, results in better teacher retention and student performance.
Such schools also tend to weave environmental awareness into the fabric of everyday education. At Mabel Rush Elementary School in Newberg, Oregon, fourth-graders were recently prepping for a quiz on the school's energy-saving lightbulbs. They had to know everything about how the bulbs work, "right down to the mercury hitting the electrons," says their teacher, Lory Albright. Outside their classrooms, the halls are lined with colored panels and skylights. The design's natural interplay of light and hue teaches kids about how the shifting angle of the sun affects perception.
And last year in Olympia, Washington, several hundred teens at Washington Middle School gathered to watch An Inconvenient Truth, the documentary on Al Gore's campaign to halt global warming. Afterward, the principal unveiled a new solar-powered generator. It was part of a renovation that includes a system that uses rainwater to flush toilets, waterless urinals, and skylights that reduce reliance on artificial lighting.
"Green technologies make renewable resources much more real for the students," says Audrey Perry, a seventh-grade science teacher at Washington. And perhaps most important, the concept of conservation—which can be somewhat abstract to middle-schoolers—becomes routine, Perry says: "The kids have proof that we're cutting down on fossil fuels, and that gets them excited."
THE HEALTH BENEFITS
Increased exposure to natural light is a big reason these institutions are good environments for students and instructors, according to the Capital E report. In fact, the students with the most daylight in their classrooms perform better—by 20 percent on math tests and by 26 percent on reading tests—than those with less daylight, says a 1999 study by the Heschong Mahone Group, an energy-efficiency consulting firm.
"Evolutionarily, we're wired to be in a natural environment," says Frances E. Kuo, a psychologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who studies how green space affects behavior and cognitive ability. "Kids can mentally recharge by looking out the window."
Parents and teachers don't need much convincing. "The natural light makes teachers and students visibly happier," says Sharon Terry, a teacher at Baker Prairie Middle School in Canby, Oregon, a green school that opened in 2006. "When students are happier, they are more focused and more productive." These schools' fresh air doesn't hurt, either.
And yet 15,000 American schools contain air considered "unsatisfactory" to breathe, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). And a national review of green schools for the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative found that numerous studies have linked indoor pollution to a host of health problems in kids, such as asthma. Still, few states even regulate indoor air quality or require adherence to basic ventilation standards in schools.
THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS
Despite the estimate that 14 million students attend schools considered below standard due to disrepair, according to GAO statistics, green conversion, with its presumed high up-front costs, is often dismissed as an extravagance. The Capital E report, however, estimates that green schools cost just three dollars more per square foot than conventional schools. And that money is made back soon enough, since green schools use an average of 33 percent less energy. For those eager to convert their schools, such savings can be the perfect trump card. "A district can't build green for purely philosophical reasons," says Andrea Weber, a parent who was on Baker Prairie's planning committee. "It has to make financial sense." Architect Heinz Rudolf, who has designed more than a dozen sustainable schools, made the case at Baker Prairie by explaining the cost benefits. Once the committee saw the schools' lowered electric bills, "it seemed like a natural thing to do," Weber says. Last year, Baker Prairie's energy costs were expected to be reduced by 40 percent.
And greening doesn't have to mean a complete overhaul, says Claire Barnett, executive director of the Healthy Schools Network. Incremental efforts, like using eco-friendly cleaning products or removing carpets (which can harbor mold, dust mites, and other allergens), can have a significant impact on environmental quality. And if a district is looking to do more, there are agencies and nonprofits that offer grants for renewable-energy projects in schools.
THE FEEL-GOOD FACTOR
"It has always been my idea that people refer back to their schools," says Rudolf. "When you create schools filled with light and joy, they will be in students' memories for life."
His words were resonant on a beautiful day at Baker Prairie in spring 2007, as daylight flooded through the large windows. "How can you not feel good in a place like this?" asked principal Lou Bailey, gesturing toward students as they moved through an airy corridor. Green architecture alone may not solve all of a school's challenges, Bailey allowed, "but it's a piece of the puzzle."
