A growing body of research indicates that students learn better when they learn firsthand through hands-on experiences. At the Center for Green Schools, we think the same is true for everybody else, including the millions of teachers who dedicate their lives to educating our children.
Blog
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Chicago Can Share Best Practices for a Green Economy
Chicago: Home of the Cubs, the Blues Brothers, deep-dish pizza, and more LEED-certified municipal buildings than any other city in the U.S.(Not to mention Chicago ranks #1 in total square footage of LEED space, and the entire state of Illinois ranks third in the country on a per-capita basis).
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At Treasury, Green is Our Favorite Color – But We’ll Take (LEED) Gold!
When you think about a “green” building, you probably don’t picture a centuries-old National Historic Landmark that’s lined with columns and made of thousands of tons of granite.
Well, maybe that’s about to change. I’m pleased to announce that the Treasury Building – which dates back to the 19th century and is located right next door to the White House – received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) at a ceremony today in our historic Grant Room.
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Why Galaxy Elementary is Aiming for LEED Platinum
Parents want to know: is building a school as a LEED school expensive? It all depends. Initial construction costs can sometimes be high, but with a careful budget and post construction energy performance studies, building to LEED standards saves a great deal of money over time. Additionally, green schools can be created at or below regional K-12 construction costs and operated within existing facilities budgets.
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An America Built to Last: The Five Wins for Green Buildings in the SOTU
This week I watched the President’s State of the Union address with a notepad of buzzwords ready to take down some tallies. I’m certainly not the only person who keeps track keywords mentioned by the President in his annual speech. Not surprisingly, the President mentioned “jobs” more than 40 times in the 90 minute speech. I was also pleased that he referenced “energy” 20 times. Keeping track of my favorite hot topics became overwhelming only 30 minutes in, but in this case, too much of a good thing is a good thing.
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Top 10 States for LEED Green Buildings
Today, USGBC released its top 10 list of states with the most LEED-certified building square footage per capita. The District of Columbia leads the nation, with more than 31 square feet of LEED-certified space per person in 2011, and Colorado is the leading state, with 2.74 square feet per person in 2011. Other top states include Illinois, Virginia and Washington, with 2.69, 2.42 and 2.18 square feet of LEED-certified space per person, respectively.
See the full rankings below:
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New USGBC Report: Better Buildings through Executive Action
President Obama’s We Can’t Waitstrategy is all about leveraging Executive Branch opportunities the Administration can take – without Congressional approval – to boost the economy, spur job creation and make America more competitive.
For the sake of all Americans, this We Can’t Wait ethos is something we share and strongly support, especially since green building sits at the nexus of saving people money, saving energy and creating jobs.
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Green Building to be a Priority at Rio+20
Climate policy wonks are used to reading leaked draft text in advance of international negotiations. However, the 19 page draft text for the upcoming United Nations Convention on Sustainable Development Rio+20 Conference is unique for being leaked so far in advance of the June meeting. Climate policy nerds like me are pretty excited over this fortuitous accident.
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Project Haiti: Rebuilding Better for Haiti’s Children
The Center for Green Schools operates within a non-profit called the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). While the Center has a mission that is focused on schools and the students who attend them, USGBC’s broader mission is to create green buildings and communities for all, believing that everyone is entitled to live, breathe, learn and work in a healthy, sustainable environment.