Review and Assessment of the Health and Productivity Benefits of Green Schools An Interim Report (2006) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 8-19
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From page 8... ...
Guidelines may include design and engineering goals such as locating schools near public transportation to reduce pollution and land development impacts; placing a building on a site to minimize its environmental impact and optimize daylighting and solar gain; designing irrigation systems and indoor plumbing systems to conserve water; designing energy and lighting systems to conserve fossil fuels and maximize the use of renewable resources; selecting materials that are nontoxic, biodegradable, and easily recycled, and that minimize the impacts on landfills and otherwise reduce waste; and creating an indoor environment that provides occupants with thermal comfort and acoustic, visual, and air quality. Guidelines for green schools also include construction goals such as the appropriate storage of materials on construction sites to avoid water damage, the reduction of waste 8
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From page 9... ...
The committee also identified those elements that potentially have a level of importance for health and learning outcomes. In this interim report, the committee has focused on the following characteristics of green school buildings and their relationship to occupant health and productivity outcomes: · Building envelope, moisture management, and health; · Ventilation, pollutant source control, health, and productivity; · Lighting, performance, and health; · Acoustics, student learning, and teacher health; and · Building condition and student achievement.
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From page 10... ...
Even if outcomes could be tied specifically to the quality of the school setting, the influence of other educational factors might be far greater, including quality of curriculum, teacher education/preparation, parental support, peer support, background of student, prior health of student, quality of the administration, and educational standards. For example, research on teaching suggests that student learning is affected by teacher quality (variously defined as teacher experience, teacher knowledge, etc.)
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From page 11... ...
Students Teachers Development Health Health Productivity intellectual § physical physical social psychological psychological emotional FIGURE 1.1 Conceptual model for evaluating links between school buildings, learning, and health.
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From page 12... ...
Despite the individual nature of systems in school buildings, whether conventional or green, the interactions among systems can determine the overall performance of a building. Ventilation, for example, affects other environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, noise, vibration, and air quality factors of moisture control and microbial contamination.
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From page 13... ...
TABLE 1.1 Illustrative Example of Indicators Used to Measure Relevant Outcomes Student Teacher Health Asthma Asthma Allergies Allergies Cold/flu and other Cold/flu and other respiratory diseases respiratory diseases Headaches Vocal fatigue Eye fatigue Headaches Eye fatigue Development (learning Standardized test scores Turnover/retention and productivity) Working memory Attitude/motivation Prospective memory Teaching behaviors/methods Sustained attention Years of experience Reading comprehension Knowledge Verbal comprehension Educational preparation Demonstration of concepts Certification/licensure Graduation rates Teacher examination scores College enrollment rates Disciplinary incidents COMPLEXITY OF THE TASK The committee has been asked to consider the possible influence of confounding, bias, error, and chance in the relevant literature.
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From page 14... ...
Said differently, a simple comparison of the incidence of health outcomes among exposed and nonexposed groups may exaggerate an apparent difference because socioeconomic status is also thought to influence the incidence of several health problems. A variety of confounding factors will be present in any study that attempts to link features of school buildings with student and teacher health and development.
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From page 15... ...
Another challenge is that in a conceptual model such as the one used here, the effects of physical environments might be "trumped" in some ways by other forces -- teacher quality or parent involvement or financial resources. With outcomes as complex as student health and development -- influenced as they are by many school, family, and community factors -- it might be impossible to design research that controls for all potentially confounding variables.
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From page 16... ...
Thus, if certain building characteristics or operation practices also are shown to yield only a small gain, at best, in student achievement, such an outcome is not unexpected. COMMITTEE'S APPROACH The committee's initial review of the literature focused specifically on those studies that purport to address the connections between sustainable or green building design, student learning and health, and teacher productivity and health.
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From page 17... ...
With these caveats in mind, the committee determined it should review the scientific literature relating to those characteristics of green schools that are typically emphasized in definitions and guidelines and that differ from conventional school building practices. However, a review of all research literature that touches on some aspect of buildings and their potential impacts on occupant health, learning, or productivity is an undertaking beyond the resources of this study.
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From page 18... ...
Chapters 2 through 6 of this interim report present the committee's findings and recommendations related to building envelope, moisture management, and health; ventilation, pollutant source control, health, and productivity; lighting, performance, and health; acoustics, student learning, and teacher health; and building condition and student achievement. As noted previously, additional topic areas, findings, and recommendations will be included in the committee's final report.
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From page 19... ...
Thus, in the committee's collective judgment, there is value in attempting to identify design features and building processes and practices that may lead to improvements in learning, health, and productivity for students, teachers, and other school staff, even if empirical results are less than robust.
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