Conservation lesson

Students at Maryland’s Poolesville High School last year analyzed the cost of keeping unused computer monitors on for one hour. They then extrapolated that figure to an entire day, and before they knew it, they stumbled on a way to save the district nearly $5,000 a year.

It’s what the green schools movement is all about — saving some green by making school districts think green.

The term “green school” means different things to different people, says Anja Caldwell, Green Schools Program manager with Montgomery County Public Schools.

A green school can be an energy-efficient one, where, say, geothermal systems leverage the Earth’s natural heating and cooling properties to cut the taxpayers’ heating bills.

Such a label also could refer to a building with energy-saving light bulbs, environmental friendly paint and furniture without formaldehyde.

Ms. Caldwell says some school districts are wary of going green.

“It’s not the standard yet, but it’s getting there. With school districts, typically there’s a different set of criteria, like durability. Anything going into the school has to be tried and true,” she says.

Ms. Caldwell says the green-school movement began in the late 1970s but erupted in earnest over the past five or so years.

She recalls a time when classrooms were built without windows, perhaps to cut down on distractions. She says recent studies show that students perform up to 26 percent better when exposed to indirect daylight.

Ms. Caldwell says some of the lessons do more than instruct. Montgomery County students, after measuring the performance levels of various buildings in regard to air flow, temperatures and electricity usage, helped the district save nearly $700,000 last year with their recommendations for energy conservation.

Billie Bradshaw, the Poolesville physics teacher who initiated the computer-shut-off program, says such lesson plans engage students in “real-world activities.”

“Not everyone is an athlete,” says Mrs. Bradshaw, who also teaches in her school’s Global Ecology Studies Program. “Through the Green School Club, I can instill the same kind of motivation and self-worth that you get on the athletic field.”

Merrilee Harrigan, director of education with the D.C.-based nonprofit Alliance to Save Energy, says engaging students with green activities is having an impact.

“When we get students to do an energy audit of their school building and identify how much they can save … they see the results. It’s very energizing. it means something,” Ms. Harrigan says.

The green-school movement’s early days were a bit misguided.

Story Continues →