Building + Human + Community
What Is Green Schools?
School Energy Efficiency Process
Emphasizes the “why’s” of taking energy
Combines instruction and facilities
Based on planning by cross-functional teams
Involves students in school and community
Funds returned as a consequence of behavior
Where Did the Green Schools
Program Come From?
Public schools spend $4.25 billion/year on energy
Schools are under-retrofitted
An energy efficiency retrofit will not realize its full
potential without an educated user. (ASE:
Niagara Mohawk study)
An educated energy consumer can make
significant contributions to energy efficiency with
or without a retrofit. (USDOE: Twin Rivers study)
Alliance to Save Energy?
22-year old bi-partisan coalition
Who funds Green Schools ?
Pew Charitable Trusts
William Penn Foundation
Southern California Edison
New York State Electric & Gas
State and Local Government
US Department of Energy
NH Governor’s Office of Energy and Community Services
Connecting Energy Efficiency
to Schools’ Core Business
Instructional and thematic planning
Hands-on, inquiry-based, and cooperative
Congruence with service learning and project-
Instructional & Thematic
Each school team plans activities in
instruction, behavior, and involvement.
Example: Back to school night
Plans are integrated with the sequence of
Example: Energy transformations taught as part of the unit on
butterfly stages of transformation
Plans are coordinated with events during the
Example: Applying energy concepts learned previously to the
preparation, consumption, and clean-up of one class’s Thanksgiving
Studying energy efficiency naturally touches:
Properties of heat and electricity, definitions of energy, etc.
Calculating energy savings, estimating, converting units, etc.
Energy history (consumption, fuel sources, etc.), laws and
regulations, social responsibility, social impacts of changes in
energy sources and environmental effects, etc.
Effects of energy production, consumption, inefficiency,
Machines that convert fuel to useful energy, etc.
Reading, vocabulary, letter writing, oral communications,
public displays, etc.
Students surveyed their own homes to find out what energy
sources they use. They shared information with classmates,
pooled data, and generated graphs.
Students compared temperatures in different parts of their
classroom and discovered the factors affecting temperatures at
the windows, doors, and walls.
Students identified windows as the source of their greatest
discomfort. They researched their options and decided as a
group to make window quilts to cuts drafts and keep room
Service Learning and Project-
Service learning: taking what students
know and sharing it in the community
Examples: Energy efficiency auditing local buildings (e.g., a
Public presentations on energy efficiency in buildings for
other students (peer learning) and community organizations
Examples: School newsletter on Green Schools and the
School-wide energy conference
Philadelphia Green Schools
Operations/behavior savings at almost
Average 11% in Philadelphia pilot schools
Savings returned to schools as a
consequence, not a reward. During
~$30,000 saved at ML King High Schools (received 40%
back or $12,000)
~$10,000 saved at Prince Hall Elementary during first year
(received back 40% or $4,000)
Makes energy visible/conscious
Improved communications among team
members; improved school functioning
Include energy from solar cells as part of
Solar Now with proposed expansion in Philadelphia
Summer savings program in California
Offer as part of a comprehensive school
energy efficiency package
NYSERDA programs for schools offered with Green Schools