Going Green
Texas public schools set eco-friendly examples with students and in communities
By Raven L. Hill

Call it the greening of Texas schools. Everywhere you look, school districts across the state are proving that it actually is easy being green.

The playground base at Jordan Elementary School in Socorro ISD is made from recycled tires. Starting this school year, Austin ISD is building solar outdoor learning centers at 21 campuses in the hopes of preparing graduates for green jobs. And the largest “net zero” school in the country is under construction in Irving ISD — a building that will produce as much energy as it consumes.

From classrooms to curriculum and energy systems to extracurricular activities, the “go green” movement is taking hold in the Lone Star State as public schools strive to be more eco-friendly.

Green school design focuses on indoor air quality, energy efficiency and water conservation, according to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a Washington, D.C.-based organization that promotes sustainable design through its prestigious LEED certification program. Five years ago, approximately 275 schools nationwide — public, private and charter — were LEED-certified or in the certification pipeline. Today, that figure has grown to about 2,030 — 103 of which are in Texas, and most of them are public. The council estimates that each day a new school registers for LEED certification.

Supporters attribute the growing green movement to increased awareness of its benefits: healthier learning environments for students and faculty, and cost savings for school districts over the long run. Moreover, many administrators are collaborating with their builders early in the construction process to ensure the school campuses can serve as a teaching tool for students.

For example, in Spring ISD near Houston, district administrators have enlisted the architects and consulting firm behind the construction of Gloria Marshall Elementary School, which will open in 2011-2012, to help create a green-focused curriculum. School officials want the campus to focus on science and discovery-based learning.

“We’ve created a unit for each grade level that is going to provide a real problem for students to solve,” says Dalane Bouillion, Spring ISD associate superintendent of curriculum and instruction. Fourth graders, for example, will explore water conservation in schools, at home and in the community.

"The staff has been excited about being able to tie their content and curriculum into something positive for the community and greater society,” she says.

A portrait of a green school

For years, Jim Martin had dreamed of opening a green school — an energy-efficient campus with a garden and natural light streaming through the windows of every classroom. Plans for the school were in the works when he retired from Northside ISD in 2008 as assistant superintendent of facilities and operations. This fall he finally got his wish when Jim G. Martin Elementary School opened its doors.

All teachers at the school incorporate lessons that touch on being environmentally friendly, says Principal Evelyn Cobarruvias.

“Part of our job is to help students understand the world,” Cobarruvias says. “Once we start planting the seeds, that’s when they will use their creativity and curiosity. They can start coming up with ways to preserve the world.”

Martin Elementary has window shades to help control air-conditioning costs, light sensors in all classrooms to reduce energy expenses, efficient plumbing features, and local and native landscape grasses that require less water to maintain. Approximately 90 percent of the construction waste was recycled. As many locally and regionally produced materials as possible were used in the school’s construction to reduce transportation costs.

And just as the school’s namesake had envisioned, there is a learning garden to teach students about renewable resources.

Realizing the cost savings

On average, green schools save about $100,000 annually in direct operating expenses, according to USGBC.

“Even with that figure, a lot of the green schools coming on now save that amount in energy and water savings alone,” says Rachel Gutter, director of the USGBC Center for Green Schools. “That has mostly to do with an increased expertise and capacity around more efficient design — (those schools) that are, from the start, more aggressive in energy efficiency.”

However, expenses associated with green building can run high initially, so the payoff usually is realized over time.

For example, Gloria Marshall Elementary’s mechanical systems cost approximately $30 per square foot to build; the mechanical systems for a conventionally designed school average about $22 to $23 per square foot. The good news? Spring ISD anticipates saving about 25 percent to 30 percent annually in operating costs over the building’s lifetime. The district expects it will take seven to eight years to realize the savings that will offset the higher initial cost.

Northside ISD’s Martin Elementary cost about $200,000 more to build than a typical elementary school, says Vernon Dunagin, assistant superintendent of facilities and operations. About half of that amount went to architectural, engineering and LEED-professionals’ fees, he says. Dunigan says the estimated time for payback is 10 years.

“This is a conservative figure and may be realized earlier, given the recent increases in electrical and water usage rates in San Antonio,” he says.

Higher startup costs aren’t a given with green building, however. When Columbia-Brazoria ISD opened West Brazos Junior High School in 2006 — the first LEED-certified public junior high in Texas — it focused on building smart to reduce up-front expenses.

Columbia-Brazoria ISD invested in mechanical systems, occupancy lighting and natural landscaping, says Martha Buckner, the district’s former assistant superintendent. The overall cost per square foot was about the same or even slightly less than the district’s other traditionally built schools.

“We made smart choices, not expensive choices,” says Buckner, who now works in Humble ISD. “There’s a misconception that schools that meet LEED or Collaborative for High Performance Schools certifications have to be more expensive. It depends on how you choose to allocate your budget.”

For its future green-building projects, Northside ISD plans to forego a LEED certification in favor of the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) certification to reduce construction costs. The Texas CHPS Criteria (TX-CHPS) creates a benchmark for designing and constructing Texas school buildings that are “efficient, comfortable, environmentally responsible and healthy spaces.”

What differentiates TX-CHPS from LEED is that it offers districts the option of self-certification in its review process, allowing districts to use in-house staff to do the work required to meet standards, thus reducing costly professional fees.

“Because of our expertise, we feel like we can do a certification ourselves,” says Dunigan. “We do have Martin to use as an example.”

Paul Turner, facilities director for Austin ISD, which has numerous green initiatives in place, emphasizes the life cycle of green building costs — about 25 percent goes to up-front expenses and 75 percent goes to operations over a lifetime.

“It pays for itself over time,” Turner says.

Lance Bishop, Green Schools Committee chair for the USGBC North Texas Green Council, advises districts to focus on three areas to get the most bang for their bucks: control systems, lighting efficiency and air handlers.

“If I were allowed to go into every district in Texas and put in control systems, I could probably reduce their utility bills by 20 percent to 25 percent,” Bishop says. “When you consider that Texas school districts spend $200 million a year, that’s a $50 million savings.”

Going green makes cents and sense, says Spring ISD Superintendent Ralph H. Draper.

“Spring ISD has long had the philosophy that instruction drives construction,” says Draper. “Students at Marshall Elementary will not only experience energy conservation firsthand, but they will have opportunities to use their learning environment to apply math and science concepts.

“The opportunities for engaged learning, which this campus will provide both students and staff, support our vision of becoming a leader among learning organizations and known for exemplary student achievement.”

RAVEN L. HILL is a freelance education writer and a reporter for The Baltimore Sun.