Background

Schools directly touch the lives of 82.2 million people. When friends and relatives are factored into the equation, the number is enormous. The aggregate impact of school communities alone is sufficient to play a measurable role in helping to stop global warming and build a safe, sustainable future.

A healthy, green learning environment is a critical component of a student’s ability to learn and a teacher’s ability to teach, and must be included in any discussion on improving academic performance and climate change.

According to the U.S. DOE, our schools are failing energy 101. Our nation's K-12 schools are challenged to serve growing student populations and rising community expectations with aging buildings, constrained operating budgets, and ever-increasing energy bills. Each year, taxpayers unnecessarily spend $6 billion on energy alone for schools — about 25 percent more than needed. That $1.5 billion could be redirected to hire 30,000 new teachers or purchase 40 million new textbooks annually.

High-performance Green Schools cost 50% less to operate than traditionally designed schools. Designed to save energy and reduce environmental impacts, they address resource efficiency, recycling, materials selection, green cleaning, indoor air quality, healthy food and a curriculum that integrates sustainable practices and principles.

On the building scale, Green Schools integrate efficient lighting and daylighting systems, advanced windows, roofing, insulation, and mechanical and ventilation systems, as well as renewable energy systems, water conservation features, recycling and waste management systems, and use of environmentally-sensitive building products and systems.

Teachers can incorporate their school's green features, such as energy, into their curriculum, providing students with hands-on learning opportunities about the environment.

Learn more:

www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/info/schools/

http://www.healthyschoolscampaign.org/

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Demographics

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in the fall of 2006:

• 72.7 million students are enrolled in American schools and colleges

• 4.5 million are employed as elementary, secondary & college faculty

• 5.0 million are employed as professional, administrative & support staff

• 33.9 million students are enrolled in grades PreK-8

• 6.1 million students are in the private/independent school system

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) forecasts record levels of total elementary and secondary enrollment through at least 2015, as the school-age population continues to rise.

Learn more:

http://nces.ed.gov/

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The Green Schools Alliance
GSA: A Global Call To Action

The On-line Green Schools Community - helping local citizens make a global difference.

www.greenschoolsalliance.org/

The GSA was created to inspire and mobilize school communities to make sustainable building, resource and curriculum choices. The GSA will provide the resources and tools needed by schools to educate stakeholders about the environmental issues facing our world and the benefits to them in making sustainable choices. In addition, by developing public-private partnerships on the local, state and national level the GSA will help school communities to implement sustainable principles, programs and practices.

Our nation's schools are a pivotal component to realizing a sustainable future. There is a unique opportunity for today's children to grow up as stewards of the environment. If taught to think globally and act locally, we can empower children to positively impact the future of the planet. At the same time, as "early adopter communities", schools can reach a broad audience and help catalyze entire neighborhoods.

As a result of The Greening of Allen-Stevenson, The Green Schools Alliance (GSA) & NYC Low-Carbon Schools Challenge (L-CSC) was launched by GEO on World Environment Day (June 5) 2007 to recognize and support the leadership role that schools can play in solving the pressing environmental problems of our times.

The purpose of the GSA is to inspire schools toward action. The GSA will identify interdisciplinary resources, tools and programs that are available to schools to help them on their journey toward sustainability. These resources range from no/low-cost opportunities to more involved investments in areas addressing climate change, energy conservation, recycling, green cleaning, IAQ and healthy school programs.

The GSA will initially focus on the nation’s independent schools, an under-represented sector in the environmental dialogue, starting in NYC. As with all schools, many struggle without money, and are NOT elitist institutions. Some do not have the means to provide the basics, let alone the time to explore energy/resource saving initiatives. The independent schools, however, do have a built-in infrastructure that enables them to communicate with one another and work collaboratively. This makes them ideally suited to develop purchasing consortiums and share “lessons learned” that can expedite the implementation of sustainable practices, programs and principles.

Each school has a unique perspective and history to add to the GSA. Some focus their commitment on energy, others on recycling or public service. Every story is part of the whole, and together can change the world! The GSA hopes to honor every school’s individual commitment and unique journey, and create a shared network on behalf of our planet. Together the GSA represents a substantial aggregate demand for sustainable solutions.

The GSA hopes to inspire leadership and responsibility, and will create public/private partnerships on the local, state, national and global scale to help educate stakeholders [including Headmasters, Trustees, Facilities Managers, Faculty, Administrators, Students and Parents] about the benefits to them in making sustainable choices.

The NYC Green Schools Alliance, if successful, can become a national model. Through partnerships with organizations including the National Association for Independent Schools (NAIS), it is our desire that we can begin to build an inclusive national dialogue and create a critical mass toward a sustainable future.

Started in NYC, the GSA will be presented at the NAIS National Conference in NYC in 2008 where independent schools nationwide will be asked to join the NYC Low-Carbon Schools Challenge.

Learn more:

www.greenchoolsalliance.net

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The Greening of Allen-Stevenson

The Greening of The Allen-Stevenson School (A-S) was inspired in 2006 by a first grade boy who wanted to celebrate Earth Day in his classroom at Allen-Stevenson. Wanting every day to be Earth Day, in just one year his wish has turned into a model of sustainability for existing urban schools. What started out with one first grade boy has launched a citywide, state and national initiative. 



Through the vision of the Headmaster and broad support from parents, faculty, staff and students, A-S created a Committee On The Environment (COTE) and held its first annual “Earth Awareness Month.” School-wide activities included speakers, projects, and a Carbon Challenge that reduced A-S’s carbon footprint by 50-65%.

Allen-Stevenson’s ”Greening” is on going. Focused on empowering every member of its community, this school-wide initiative continues to emphasize the importance of personal responsibility, action, leadership and teamwork.

In 2008, the Allen-Stevenson School celebrates its 125th anniversary by becoming the first LEED accredited independent school in NYC, and by committing itself to the protection of our planet’s resources and the principles and practices of sustainability and global citizenship. As catalysts for “early adopter neighborhoods,” independent schools like Allen-Stevenson can help NYC and other cities and towns worldwide meet their carbon reduction goals and become educational models for a sustainable future.

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