(January 16, 2009) - Recycling bins have been a common fixture in schools for some time now. In fact, it would probably seem odd not to see one. Many schools in Maryland even have programs where young students are taught to recycle and fill out math worksheets with an environmental theme. More recently, programs developed to educate students on how to be good stewards of our environment have become increasingly popular. At Sidwell Friends School in Bethesda, sixth-graders in science class race solar-powered cars and record their fastest times. While practicing “green” habits seemed once reserved for devout tree-huggers, it has evolved into its own industry and continues to gain recognition and momentum.

In addition to environmentally friendly programming in schools, the facilities themselves are also slowly going green, prodded by rising energy bills, public health concerns and a general desire to adopt eco-friendly principles. Green schools cost a little more to build than conventional schools but promise payback through lower utility bills and, some studies suggests better student achievement. According to Gregory Kats' Greening America's Schools, a national review of 30 green schools demonstrated that green schools cost less than 2% more than conventional schools - or about $3 per square foot, but provide financial benefits that are 20 times as large. Greening school design provides an extraordinarily cost-effective way to enhance student learning, reduce health and operational costs and, ultimately, increase school quality and competitiveness. The financial savings are about $70 per square foot, 20 times as high as the cost of going green.

The U.S. Green Building Council has recognized nearly 100 schools as eco-friendly under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program since 2000 and another 800 are seeking certification. The interest in green building has extended to the Maryland General Assembly, where Governor Martin O'Malley submitted a bill that calls for all public school and state-funded construction projects of a certain size to shoot for silver-level LEED certification. The legislature enacted the High Performance Building's law, which requires all State construction, including schools, on which design and engineering begins after July 1, 2009 be built to LEED certification standards.

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) was the forerunner in the State when they established a Green Building Program in 2003. The program implements high-performance and green building strategies that include staff training, design standard reviews and LEED certification for all new school construction. A LEED pilot school, Great Seneca Creek Elementary School in Germantown, opened in 2006 and was Maryland's first LEED-certified school. The same year, Montgomery County passed a requirement that all public schools be certified by a third party at a minimum LEED-Silver level.

Last fall, MCPS announced that it will install solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on the roofs of several schools. This initiative will make MCPS the first school system in the state of Maryland and the Washington, DC metropolitan area to launch a large scale solar photovoltaic (PV) program. Each solar PV system within the program will be capable of producing between 100 and 400 kilowatts (kW) of electric power. This amounts to between 20 and 40 percent of the total power requirements of the school during peak sunlight conditions.

As more buildings, including schools, go green, the LEED rating system continues to evolve. The USGBC Board of Directors has voted unanimously to open for public comment LEED 2009, a new version of the rating system that delivers against key environmental and human health impacts, and puts in place a transparent framework for weighting credits accordingly, based on the best available science. LEED 2009 resets the bar for green building leadership, challenging the industry to move faster and reach further than ever before.

In direct response to the Maryland General Assembly passing a bill requiring state funded school construction projects to seek LEED-Silver certification, key personnel at Oak Contracting are pursuing professional accreditation through the Green Building Certification Institute. Six employees have already earned their accreditation. Chris Marschhauser, project manager, and Tony Kukowski, superintendent, team on Montgomery County Public School projects and are currently in the pre-construction phase on Cresthaven Elementary School, which will start in January 2009 and is seeking LEED-Silver certification. Bill Moschler, project manager, and Dave Toth, superintendent, were recently selected by Frederick County Public Schools to construct the new Lincoln Elementary School, which incorporates the historic portion of the original school built in 1922. Lincoln Elementary will also seek LEED-Silver certification. Brian Smith, project manager, will serve as LEED manager for Towson West Elementary School and George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology in Baltimore County. And, as Oak's Director of Marketing and Business Development, I also obtained professional accreditation to affirm the company's commitment to green construction in the sales and marketing process.

For More Information: Build Green Schools, by the USGBC