Ohio’s Green Schools Initiative Creates a Healthier Atmosphere for Students, Jobs, and Environment
Ohio is standing on the threshold of an unprecedented opportunity. It’s an opportunity to innovatively promote job creation, educational advancement, and environmental sustainability. Governor Strickland and I are committed to upgrading and improving our public school facilities through the increased use of green building design.
In 2007, the Ohio School Facilities Commission, under the leadership of Director Michael Shoemaker, embarked upon a Green Schools Initiative to create school facilities that are healthier for students and teachers, plus cost less money to operate.
The commission elected to use the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® for Schools rating system as its roadmap for documenting and measuring the progress of our administration’s initiative. The LEED® system is the national benchmark for high performance green buildings. LEED® for Schools Certification provides parents, teachers, and the community with a “report card” for their school buildings, verifying that the school has been built to meet a high level of energy and environmental performance. LEED® Gold or Silver Certification is proof that the project achieved its “green” goals.
Modernizing Ohio’s schools allows our children to be safer, warmer, and drier, while preparing to be the artists, entrepreneurs, scientists, writers, and engineers of the future. It requires a new way of thinking about our buildings. LEED®-certified schools offer better lighting and improved ventilation and indoor environmental quality. These factors contribute to healthier conditions, reduced absenteeism, and higher student achievement.
But we needn’t see school building renovation and construction simply in terms of increasing education opportunities. The investment we are making will provide huge dividends both environmentally and economically.
Energy efficient schools save money by conserving energy resources. Efficient buildings have heating and cooling systems properly sized for the facility, integrate electronic lighting with natural lighting, and are designed to optimize building performance. Green schools decrease our reliance on fossil fuels, thus decreasing carbon dioxide emissions and other forms of harmful pollution. According to the U.S. Green Building Council, an average green school will use 33 percent less energy; save 32 percent more water; and reduce solid waste by 74 percent.
With $4.1 billion targeted for school construction over the next three years, our administration’s Green Schools Initiative is one of the most significant commitments we can make to our children and our communities. This important initiative will result in the registration of at least 250 new building projects that are aiming for a LEED®-Silver Certification or higher over the next two years.
These schools will provide a healthy, productive learning environment; improve teacher retention; reduce utility costs; use best practices in environmental and resource stewardship; and provide hands-on learning opportunities in many scientific disciplines. There is also a strong economic impact to consider: Ohio is poised to spend more than $4.1 billion in construction and renovation over the next three years. What impact will those expenditures have? According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 16,149 jobs are created with every $1 billion spent in construction. Given Ohio’s initiative of $4.1 billion, it’s not unreasonable to say we will create more than 65,000 skilled jobs for Ohio workers. As Mary Filardo of the Economic Policy Institute writes, “Responsible management and investment in public school buildings pays three times: once for skilled jobs in local communities; a second time in the quality that healthy, safe, and educational appropriate buildings create for students and teachers; and, finally, a third time in the benefits that quality education will reap for generations to come.”
“Going green” in building construction helps promote advanced energy opportunities for Ohio. A growing advanced energy sector is a triple win for Ohio: it creates good jobs for Ohioans, preserves our health and environment, and reduces our state’s carbon footprint. This is an industry area in which Ohio is well-positioned to obtain global leadership.
Advanced and alternative energy got an important boost this spring with the enactment into law of two major pieces of legislation: Ohio’s new energy bill, signed into law by Governor Strickland on May 1, and our $1.57 billion economic stimulus package, which became law on June 12. The significant investments in advanced energy contained within these two important laws demonstrate our state’s strong commitment to the growth of alternative energy; it is a pillar of Ohio’s economic future.
Our Green School Initiative is primarily about learning: The educational benefits to the 1.8 million Ohio students who will attend healthier schools are enormous.
I encourage school administrators and other Ohioans interested in partnering with us to improve the health and efficiency of our schools to visit the Ohio School Facilities Commission’s website at http://osfc.ohio.gov.
August/September 2008 Contents