Masonry Magazine November 2007 Page. 20
GREEN BUILDING
improving our education system, the nation's mayors through the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) support a resolution that urges Congress to provide funding of K-12 green school demonstration projects, as well as support new research funding to better understand the environmental, economic and health benefits of green schools.
"Studies show that children in green schools are healthier and more productive because of improved indoor air quality, lower levels of chemical emissions and a generous provision of natural day lighting," said Mayor T.M. Franklin Cownie of Des Moines, Iowa, at the 75th annual meeting of the USCM last July. "The benefits of cleaner indoor air quality - a key emphasis of green schools-have been linked to lower asthma rates, fewer allergies, reduced absenteeism and increased teacher retention rates"
What's more, green schools actually can be quite cost effective to construct. A study from investment advisor Capital E reports that a typical green school requires just a 2 percent increase in cost, but saves $100,000 per year in energy costs alone, which is enough, the study says, to hire two new teachers at such a school or to buy 500 new computers, or to purchase 5,000 new textbooks.
Matteson, III., Elementary School District 159 didn't need any convincing to design with LEED guidelines when it began to plan and build a new middle school in 2001 that would hold and educate students from four communities. That school, Colin Powell Middle School (CPMS), opened earlier this year for 1,000 students and 200 staff members. According to the architectural firm for the project, Legat Architects Inc., of Waukegan, III., the district's demands included an educationally responsive design, high-performance technologies and programmatic sensitivity.
CONSTRUCTION
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