The document summarizes a presentation about maintaining high performance schools. It discusses:
1) Ensuring schools are compatible with emerging trends, priorities, and changing views of education. Maintaining schools is important for student performance, attendance, teacher satisfaction, and operating costs.
2) Studies show green schools improve health, with better ventilation reducing illness and daylighting leading to test score gains of 5-18%.
3) A school district in New York was able to reduce energy usage and costs through engagement and behavior changes, achieving savings without capital investment.
Creative Solutions for Today's Educational Facilities' Needs - Kobet
1. Critical Issues Summit
Maintaining Your Investment
Ensuring Your Future
Creative Solutions for Today’s
Educational Facilities’ Needs
March 31, 2011, Albany, NY
Robert J. Kobet, AIA, LEED Faculty
President, The Kobet Collaborative
Pittsburgh, PA and Coconut Grove, FL
bob@thekobetcollaborative.com
www.thekobetcollaborative.com
2. What are the stake holders thinking?
Are high performance green schools compatible with
emerging trends and school district priorities?
“Schools are expensive and last
a long time. When we build new
schools or modernize new ones,
it is important to consider how
we think about and deliver public
education. Although no one can
predict the future, we have an
obligation to identify evolving
attitudes and practices and to try
our best to understand how they
might effect the physical settings
we use for learning.”
Kenneth R. Stevenson, Ed.D, retired
3. Why Does Maintenance Matter?
• Better student performance
• Increased average daily attendance
• Increased teacher satisfaction and retention
• Reduced operating costs
“I have noticed a big difference in my health since we’ve been
in the new school. I had a lot of absenteeism – in fact I was
hospitalized in the old building. In the new school, I won’t
say I’m cured of asthma – I still have it and I still have
allergies – but I really don’t have many problems at all and
I’m feeling great.”
Teacher at a new school in New Hampshire
using the Advantage Classroom design concept.
*High Performance School Buildings Sustainable Buildings Industry Council
4. Why Does Maintenance Matter?
• Reduced liability exposure
• A positive influence on the environment
• Increased opportunities for using the facility as a
teaching tool
• Compliance with USGBC Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) or Collaborative for
High Performance Schools (CHPS) performance
mandates
“High performance facilities are a critical part of the equation
for improving student outcomes in this country.”
Jack Lyons
Educational Facilities Program Manager
U.S. Department of Education, retired
5. Industry Facts
Studies Show Health Advantages of
Green School Facilities
New Ventilation systems found to reduce asthma
symptom reporting among students ²- Well designed ventilation
with effective distribution can reduce respiratory illness by 9 to 20%
Improving air quality can reduce absenteeism ³ Air quality
can be scientifically analyzed and absenteeism statistics are required to be kept.
The two have been correlated repeatedly.
Daylighting Improvements Lead to …
Improved Test Scores 7% - 18%
Outperforming Peers 5% - 14%
Reduced Absenteeism
1 Heschong Mahone Study Note: This study was challenged and verified under even more rigorous scrutiny
² Smedje and Norback, 2000
³ Rosen & Richardson, 1999
6. Industry Facts
Key Findings of McGraw Hill Research
• Green Building is Entrenched in K-12 and Higher Education
Construction. It is not a trend, it is a movement. Entire states
are now requiring schools to be built green and / or LEED
certified. Existing schools are getting more attention.
• Operational Cost Savings is the Key Motivational Area
– Strongest trigger – rising energy costs
– Strongest barrier – perceived increased first cost though
studies refute this assumption.
This impasse can only be resolved through
educating the stake holders
• Environmental and Health Concerns
Also Important:
- Increasing Energy Conservation
- Enhancing Student / Staff Well-being
7. Transformational Periods
in Human History:
• Hunter / Gather - 150,000 years
3000 life times in caves
• Agricultural Age - 10,000 years ago
200 life times tilling the land
defined by tools
• Industrial Age – Circa 1700s
5 life times defined by machines
• Information Age
1 life time defined by technology
shared with the
• Shift Age
Last three decades – defined by
a heightened social consciousness
Are we at another transformational
fork in the road. Or, is it “pedal to the
Three Forces Dominate
metal” and who knows where are
going? Welcome to the Shift Age…… the Shift Age
• Accelerating electronic connectedness
The Shift Age – David Houle • The expansion to global
• The empowering of the individual
8. Why Build High Performance
Green Schools ?
• 80% of students who drop out of K12 programs have passing
grades; they simply don’t want to be in school.
• In the US a K12 student drops out of school every 11 seconds.
By the time this 60 minute presentation is over 327 students
will have left school.
• 45% of math teachers stay in K12 public schools less than
three years. 60% are gone within five years.
• By the time a student entering Kindergarten graduates from
college 25% of the jobs that exist today will be gone. Half the
jobs that will replace those gone will be in the green economy.
“High performance facilities are a critical part of the equation
for improving student outcomes in this country.”
Jack Lyons
Educational Facilities Program Manager
U.S. Department of Education, retired
9. Community
Facility Curriculum
High Performance New or Existing Schools
Connect Community, Facility and Curriculum
What does this mean to how New York
does business in schools?
10. Maintenance and Money
Mai nt enance i s m e about
or
Price peopl e t han bui l di ngs. The
The $$ oper at i on and m nt enance
ai
number on
the check of our bui l di ngs ar e a
r esul t of t he deci si ons we
m ake.
$$
Cost Value
Health Personal
Productivity Subjective
Test scores Price and cost are often
used interchangeably. We
usually write a check for
what we value.
11. Community
Facility Curriculum
How do we process and use information that
informs the “Price, Cost, Value debate?”
12. Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Statistics
• People spend 90% time indoors,
including schools
• Indoor pollutant levels can be 2 to
5 times greater than outdoors
• Infants, children and elderly are
most vulnerable
• According to the American Lung
Association14 million asthma
school days missed per year
• The EPA has established direct
links between interior air quality in
schools and attendance and
student performance
• The American Medical Association
and the American Council of
Pediatric Medicine have published
concerns over misdiagnosed IAQ
symptoms
13. Micro-flora Insect waste Pharmaceuticals
Dust mites Insect stings Pollen
It’s complicated…….
A lot of things impact our physical health and
well being. School maintenance and school
policies can either help or hurt the effort to
keep students healthy and productive.
Food allergies
14. It is well known that lack of maintenance is directly responsible for poor
interior air quality and, consequently, the health of students and staff. The
fact that energy efficiency is dramatically effected is less well publicized.
15. It is well known that lack of maintenance is directly responsible for poor
interior air quality and, consequently, the health of students and staff. The
fact that energy efficiency is dramatically effected is less well publicized.
16. How much more do we need to know?
It‟s serious business….
17. School lunches are not usually considered a maintenance issue. However,
anything that weakens a child‟s immune system makes them more
susceptible to other physical insults.
The waste stream from a school cafeteria, however, and a school
gardening program can be considered income generators and are
From “Is this Your Child”
Doris Rapp, MD gaining popularity as opportunities for reducing O&M costs while
creating extremely effective learning opportunities.
18. The danger is that poor IAQ causes symptoms are often mis-diagnosed as
bacteriologically induced or virilogically induced illness. That is, they appear flu-
like. The fact is, poor interior air quality is directly responsible for a wide variety of
illnesses in our children, including asthma, hyperactivity and ADHD.
Dr. Roy E. Kerry, MD, AAOA
So, let’s do the math…… Poor maintenance = Poor IAQ
Poor IAQ = Sick Children
Sick Children = Poor Test Scores
Therefore, Poor Maintenance = Poor Test sores
19. From The Annual Message State of New
York to Members of the Legislature
January 5, 2011
“ Current Education funding is largely formula
based grants with no performance incentives. The
Federal Government’s recent move to performance
based grants, including the Race to the Top Program,
has resulted in reform. Therefore, I am proposing two
competitive funds to incentivize management
improvements.
First, I will propose a $250 million School Governor Cuomo issues a
performance fund for Districts that proportionately challenge:
increase performance in the classroom. (e.g. improving
grades of historically underperforming children). How do we do this?
Who Qualifies?
The second will be a $250 million administrative
efficiency fund for Districts that can find demonstrative What Qualifies?
savings through efficiencies.
These grants will compliment the objectives of the
Race to the Top Program by stimulating innovation in
the classroom as well as the innovative office.”
20. From The Annual Message State of New
York to Members of the Legislature
January 5, 2011
Other interesting, relevant passages:
• Create Regional Economic Councils
• Redesign State Government
Spending and Government Efficiency Commission
(SAGE)
• Redesign Local Government
Department of State Local Government
Efficiency Grants (LGEG)
Aid and Incentives to Municipalities (AIM)
• Transform the Budget Process
Governor Cuomo issues a
• Provide Mandate Relief challenge:
• Transforming the Ethical Environment in
Government: Clean up Albany
What do these mean to schools?
• Outlaw Pay to Play
Are they opportunities for
creative solutions?
21. From The Annual Message State of New
York to Members of the Legislature
January 5, 2011
Other interesting, relevant passages:
• Make New York the Progressive Capital of the US
Once Again
Schools can be a featured success!
• A Cleaner Greener Environment
Schools can lead the way!
• Economic Opportunity for all New Yorkers –
Expanding Minority and Women Owned
Business Enterprises
Schools offer great opportunity!
• Improve Government Performance and
Transparency Through Technology Governor Cuomo issues a
Schools should be networked into this! challenge:
• Juvenile Justice How will NY Schools
Attendance? Absenteeism? Test Scores? answer the challenge?
• Expand Fresh Food Into Urban Centers:
Urban Markets Meet NY Produce
Schools MUST be a part of this Directive!
22. What do we need to do? Rethink the problem…
“Insanity is doing the same thing over
and over again and expecting
different results.”
ANNUAL SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGET (ASDB)
X* = (A)DMINISTRATION + (S)ALARIES + (B)ENEFITS +
(M)AINTENANCE + (I)NSURANCE + (T)RANSPORTATION +
(P)URCHASING AND (P)ROCUREMENT + (E)VERYTHING (E)LSE?
WHERE X* = STATUS QUO? OR, DOES X = STRATEGY TO MOVE FORWARD?
IF
ASDB = A vs S vs B vs M vs I vs T vs PP vs EE
THEN
THERE IS NO REASON TO EXPECT DIFFERENT RESULTS
“A trillion dollars a day slosh around the world electronically.
How they slosh makes all the difference.”
Hazel Henderson, Planetary Citizenship
23. What do we need to do? Rethink the problem…
“Everything should be as simple as
possible, but no simpler.”
The questions are:
• What can we do differently in our
A business model given State
T S law, requirements and District
Policy?
• What does the Governor’s challenge
mean to school “business?”
B ASDB I • What are the strategic points of
intervention?
• What are the possibilities with
PT PG Public / Private partnerships?
• What resources do we have that can
EE be re-directed or re-purposed?
• What do we need to do to make it a
Pure naiveté or the way forward? win/win/win/win/win?
24. What do we need to do? Rethink the problem…
First Things First:
• Stop the Bleeding. Take a district wide, open minded
approach to dealing with operating cost and
maintenance issues. No one has a monopoly on
good ideas.
• You can’t manage what you don’t measure.
• Do whatever possible to transition to life cycle costing
versus first cost only thinking.
• Deal with the politics of budget feudalism in the most
direct way possible.
• Do not under estimate the potential of empowering
students as part of a solution. Case studies
abound where student programs have saved School
Districts significant amounts of money while
enriching the educational delivery process.
26. Energy and Conservation Management Policy
(Policy ECF adopted 1/11/2010)
Shawnee Mission School District commitment:
◦ Reduce usage of electricity, natural gas, and water
◦ Conserve natural resources
◦ Save money for other priorities
◦ Establish and maintain energy conservation
program
27. Energy and Conservation Management Policy
Staff, volunteers, and students shall be encouraged to:
o Recycle and conserve energy at all facilities
o Actively participate in conservation efforts
o Assist the district in conserving energy, water,
and natural resources
28. 1 Make a Commitment
2 Assess Performance
3 Set Goals
4 Create Action Plans
5 Implement Action Plans
6 Evaluate Progress
7 Recognize Achievements
29. Review utility billings for accuracy:
Electricity and Natural Gas
Municipal Taxes and Franchise Fees
Wastewater and Stormwater
Implement computerized setback program for HVAC
equipment
Conduct Energy Visits with principals and head custodians
Create work orders for Energy Conservation Measures (ECM)
Include Energy Efficiency Guidelines for new construction
◦ Turn off lights when not in use
◦ Switch to lower light levels
◦ Emphasize need for layered clothing in Spring and Fall
◦ Use set-back program for school breaks and holidays
◦ Close exterior doors and windows
◦ Reduce small appliance use
31. Natural Gas Consumption
◦ July, 2009-June, 2010 District-wide reduction: 4.0%
◦ June, 2010-Nov, 2010 District-wide reduction: 23.7%
Natural Gas Cost
◦ July, 2009-June, 2010 District-wide reduction: 4.7%
◦ July, 2010-Nov, 2010 District-wide reduction: 27.9%
By engaging the Staff and Students, Shawnee
Mission School District was able to effect these
savings with a Capital Investment
$0 Dollars
32. Cost / Benefit of LEED - Positive Impact on Students
Borger New Elementary School – Borger, Texas
Standardized Test Scores Up – from “Academically Acceptable” to
“Recognized” Status for first time in 4 yrs
Attendance is up 1% = $42,000 more state funding
3rd & 4th
Student Attendance Trend
1st & 2nd
97
New School Trend 3rd & 4th
96.5
Trend 1st & 2nd
% Annual Attendance
96
95.5
95
94.5
94
93.5
2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010
School Year
“ Current Education funding is largely formula based grants with no
performance incentives. The Federal Government’s recent move to performance
based grants, including the Race to the Top Program, has resulted in reform.
Therefore, I am proposing two competitive funds to incentivize management
improvements.”
38. Linking ASU Graduate Students in
Sustainability to High School
Teachers, Students and Facilities
CEFPI Moving Sustainability Forward Symposium
March 11, 2011 ▪ Erin Frisk and Mark Wood
39. Examples of Sustainability Projects
Solar Car project: Bioscience H.S. Vermicomposting: Various Schools
Site for Garden: Coronado H.S. Riparian Recovery: Metrotech H.S.
http://sustainableschools.asu.edu
42. E.O. Wilson Rachel Carson Ann Taylor
Who is the
assignment about?
David Orr Future Wilsons, Carsons, Taylors and Orrs?
Language Arts / Speech
43. Facilities that teach…..
Living Roofs…Yikes!!
Radical, eco-fringe, crazy
green whacko idea?
Maintenance nightmare?
Consider this:
• The three things that destroy conventional roofs are ultraviolet
degradation, thermal shock and mechanical abrasion. Living
roofs eliminate all three.
• Living roofs enable the down sizing of civil infrastructure and
mechanical equipment. The energy benefits are well documented.
• Living roofs may extend the need to re-roof from fifteen years to thirty
years or more. What could you do with the funds budgeted for re-
roofing and the money saved via energy conservation?
• Chicago has over 200 living roof initiatives. They are not high risk.
• Living roofs are one of the most interesting features to K12 students,
especially when combined with rainwater harvesting.
Photo: Jim Stewart
44. Facilities that teach…..
Plant based grey water treatment
facility? stuff?
Maintenance disaster
waiting to happen?
Dangerous, unsanitary,
far out, hippie
Consider this:
• Plant based grey water systems can be less expensive to install
and operate, depending on site conditions and geology
• These facilities are a biology teacher‟s dream and very popular
with students. They are a cash center for the school and
student activities.
• Bio-engineering is a growing engineering field worldwide.
Photo: Jim Stewart
45. The Micro Energy Building. Began as a center for the Olympic athletes.
Now a community center and elementary school
47. Plant based waste water treatment system – Beijing Olympic Village
Students interested in bioengineering tour the building and study the systems
48. Let’s think about this...The
aesthetic “beauty” of lawns
(monocultures) is very
subjective. They are also:
• Energy intensive
• Water intensive
• Chemical intensive
• Labor Intensive
• Intellectually sterile
• A diversion from more valuable
and cost effective
maintenance tasks
• A common source of chemical
and allergic reactions in
children and adults
• Lawn maintenance equipment is
• expensive to operate, insure
and maintain
• loud and potentially dangerous
49. “If it’s on your lawn, it’s in your lungs”
Dr. Roy E. Kerry, MD AAOA
50. On the other hand,
natural landscapes
can be:
• A source of food for the school
and the community
• Revenue producing
• Pedagogically a valuable part of
an integrated curriculum
• Catalytic influence in public /
private partnerships
• The focus of intergenerational
activities and community
pride
• A direct response to several of
the Governor’s Challenges
• Very beautiful, depending on
your values
51. Communities want it. Many children enjoy it.
School landscape conversions can
reduce maintenance costs and
directly respond to the Governor’s
Challenge:
Expand Fresh Food Into Urban Centers:
Urban Markets Meet NY Produce
Economic Opportunity for all New Yorkers:
Expanding Minority and Women
Some children could Owned Business Enterprises
benefit from it. A Cleaner Greener Environment
Juvenile Justice
55. O.W.L Team
Our World LEEDers
Leadership in
Energy and
Environmental
Design
Note! LEED for Existing Schools will be launched soon.
You don‟t have to be LEED Certified to be green. Many
schools are greening their curriculum first and working
toward greening their facilities.
57. Starting the Garden
This concept can be done in a parking lot or infertile soil that can be
regenerated using down-cycled organic material. It is being done
successfully in Florida, Arizona, Wisconsin and Canada. School
gardens are being established in vacant urban lots and roof tops
65. Making the TIME for Kids Cover
(4,000,000 copies worldwide)
The Pine Jog kids cleared
over$2000 the first year
1/3 of the produce went home
1/3 of the produce went to
support the garden program
1/3 went to a local food bank
The program is so successful it is
being expanded to all new
schools and several existing
schools by request
No one ever made Time
Magazine
for cutting grass.
66. At Pine Jog, success breeds success
“The school district has saved about $4 million since 2008 on its utility bills through
a program that aims to change behaviors of schools rather that investing money in
capital improvements such as new lights and air conditioners.”
“A big part of the savings has come from getting school principals more involved
by showing them their school‟s utility bills and how electricity is being used at their
school, Sanchez said. “They don‟t pay those bills, so they might not think about
that.”
“Sanchez said he also has made it in the best interest of principals to save energy.
Starting this year under a new incentive program, schools that save at least 5% on
their power bills over the previous year will get back 15% of those savings to use
for programs at their school. The most efficient schools will receive grants.”
“ Current Education funding is largely formula based grants with no
performance incentives. The Federal Government’s recent move to performance
based grants, including the Race to the Top Program, has resulted in reform.
Therefore, I am proposing two competitive funds to incentivize management
improvements
Governor Cuomo
67. Three Forces Dominate the Shift Age…
• Accelerating electronic connectedness
• The expansion to global
• The empowering of individual
What are we doing to meet the evolving needs of
our Shift Age students and the rapidly changing
world they must compete in?
More important, can we capitalize the idea of
enriching the educational delivery process while
reducing the cost of school maintenance?
69. Why, How and Who of School
Maintenance
Why? We can’t afford not to!
Healthy children and staff
Better test scores
Reduced operating costs
Better allocation of resources
Community benefits
Enriched curriculum
How?
Think outside the box
Respond to the Governor’s
Challenge in creative ways
Revolving loans, not grants
Who?
All of us; now
