New High Performance Schools Guideline Creates Advantages for Students and Communities
After two years in development, NEEP’s Northeast High Performance Schools Protocol is now complete. As an official member of the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS), the Protocol is now known as Northeast CHPS.
Advantages of CHPS
NEEP’s Northeast High Performance Schools Exchange chose to use the CHPS model as a guide for green, energy efficient schools due to several distinct advantages. First, CHPS is written specifically for school buildings, taking into account the fact that the occupants are children, that space is configured very differently, that the hours of operation are not the same as a commercial building and that there are school-specific acoustics, ventilation and comfort standards. Second, CHPS is supported by technical committees that regularly review best practices and changes in national building standards and adjust CHPS accordingly. Third, CHPS has developed a “suite” of support and educational materials, including manuals, videos and fact sheets. Fourth, the CHPS license allows individual state education departments to adjust the optional point criteria to adapt to state or regional climates, heating fuels or alternative fuels and/or state incentives and rebates offered by SBC fund administrators. Fifth, six states have named CHPS, or their version of CHPS, as the standard in their state and have experience with schools being designed to that standard – in the next year there will be close to 200 schools designed to CHPS in ten states. These ten states are in the early stages of forming a National Collaborative for High Performance Schools (National CHPS) whose mission will be to support state agencies as they adopt high performance green building standards that provide superior learning environments and reduce energy usage and carbon emissions.
Advantages of Northeast CHPS
Using Northeast CHPS to determine performance standards and guide school building design has definite advantages for students, teachers and school districts. In the Northeast, where communities are searching for a competitive advantage to keep or attract homeowners and businesses, energy efficient high performing green schools can become a component of municipal development strategy.
Northeast CHPS allows a building, through renovation, addition or new construction, to qualify as a high performance school at the lowest possible first cost. The prerequisites contained within Northeast CHPS define the basic high performance school as energy efficient with a superior learning environment. A school building designed to these prerequisites will reduce energy and water use by at least 30 percent. A study of pilot project schools in Massachusetts (conducted by the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation and HMFH Architects) found that incremental construction costs for the Northeast CHPS prerequisites ranged from three to five percent before energy efficiency program incentives and rebates, and less than one percent after incentives.
The energy efficiency measures required by Northeast CHPS can be met through a path that parallels energy efficiency programs in the Northeast. Incentives and rebates from utility and program administrators reduce the first cost of energy efficiency technologies by two to four percent depending on the technologies included in the design. Northeast CHPS requires school districts to pursue incentives and rebates provided through ratepayer-funded programs. These rebates, combined with federal and state incentives and manufacturer discounts, dramatically reduce first costs. For example, the Whitman Hanson High School (Mass.) aggressively pursued rebates available to public schools for building technologies. The total funding the school received covered the incremental cost of high performance measures and added over $300,000 to defray the total cost of construction.
Reducing energy use in a new or renovated building reduces operating costs. Northeast CHPS sets energy efficiency as a first priority and requires a 30 percent reduction in energy use; it encourages 40-50 percent reduction. Energy costs are the second highest expense in a school budget - next to salaries and benefits. The study of Massachusetts pilot schools (referred to above) documented that the eight schools reduced energy use by an average of 31 percent with a simple payback of less than two years. This means that the entire cost savings can be used by the school for educational expenses or to reinvest in facility operations and maintenance. Further, over the twenty year bond period, the dollars saved were eight percent of the initial investment.
In New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, using Northeast CHPS for energy use reduction qualifies a school for an additional reimbursement for the cost of construction. Districts in New Hampshire that design according to Northeast CHPS receive an additional reimbursement of three percent of total costs, while in Massachusetts the additional reimbursement for meeting CHPS criteria is two percent. In Rhode Island, Northeast CHPS has been integrated into the School Housing Aid Construction Regulations requiring schools to meet a 30 percent reduction from the energy code. Rhode Island schools will receive an additional two percent reimbursement for achieving a 40 percent energy use reduction and four percent reimbursement for a 50 percent reduction.
Reducing energy use mitigates the impact of energy price increases. Energy costs are projected to increase faster then inflation and prices cannot be predicted from year to year, or even season to season. Districts with energy efficient technologies, particularly energy management systems and controls, will have the advantage of adjusting systems to conserve energy when needed.
Advantages Beyond Energy and Cost Savings
Northeast CHPS requires a school district to adopt policies supporting high performance green design in all schools so that savings can be realized district-wide. This includes assuring that there is someone on the district building committee who has undergone training in high performance green elements and processes as well as on-going operations and maintenance plans to ensure the building performs as designed. Indoor air quality and indoor pest management plans are also required to ensure student health. The technologies used in high performance schools are easily adapted and useful in retro-fitting older buildings. When high performance becomes the norm, all buildings in the district generate savings that affects the district’s total budget.
Communities derive economic benefits from reduced environmental impact, improved health of teachers and students, improved learning environment, and water efficiency. The indoor air quality requirements of Northeast CHPS contribute to improved student and teacher health, leading to higher attendance rates and a reduced need for community health services. An improved learning environment helps schools meet state and federal requirements with better scores, again making the community attractive to families and businesses. Likewise, an attractive community promotes true local economic growth through jobs and community pride. The siting prerequisites of a Northeast CHPS school preserve greenspace and promote neighborhood schools and the use of public transportation. This makes the community more attractive, increases property values and enhances community “livability."
A Northeast CHPS building serves as a daily reminder to students that communities and individuals have a key role in slowing climate change. The inclusion of renewable technologies and energy efficiency measures in a high performance school reduces the building’s carbon footprint and has an immediate impact on climate change. Attending a “green” school teaches about the importance of reducing dependence on fossil fuels. The integration of ecology and environmental studies into the curriculum teaches the next generation about their responsibility toward the earth.
Achieving the Advantages of a Northeast CHPS School
The Northeast High Performance Schools Exchange serves as an information resource to states, school committees and school building committees that seek and advantage as they build or renovate using high performance design standards. The Exchange provides educational presentations for schools detailing the advantages of Northeast CHPS and can help with design team selection and education. NEEP promotes the competitive advantages of high performance buildings,supports outreach to communities and helps with the passage of construction bonds. The Exchange works closely with rate-payer funded efficiency program administrators as they develop incentives for schools that choose to reduce energy usage. NEEP staff are available to help school personnel access these incentives or to train utility account representatives in Northeast CHPS and other standards.
For more information about the Northeast High Performance Schools Exchange and the Northeast CHPS guidelines, please contact Carolyn Sarno, NEEP’s High Performance Schools Program Manager.
