NEEP Notes: Training and Education Updates

This quarter, NEEP facilitated a meeting with the Maine Department of Education, Efficiency Maine, the Maine School Management Association and the Maine Lung Association to discuss high performance schools and the adoption of the Northeast Collaborative for High Performance Schools Protocol (Northeast-CHPS) as the standard for Maine school construction. As a result of the meeting, the group agreed to recommend Northeast CHPS as the standard instead of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for schools.

NEEP and members of the New Hampshire Schools Working Group continued to plan the High Performance Schools Conference, scheduled for September 13 in Concord. The conference will focus on Northeast-CHPS with additional sessions on performance contracting, selling a green project to your community, indoor environmental quality, and a case study of Merrimack Valley High School (the first CHPS school in the state). For more information and online registration, click here.

In early April, NEEP took part in two public hearings in support of the revised school construction regulations. The regulations, which NEEP helped revise, were approved by the Rhode Island Board of Regents at the end of April, and mandate the use of Northeast-CHPS as the guideline for all school construction.

NEEP facilitated a half day strategic planning session with the Rhode Island High Performance Schools Working Group to plan education and outreach activities for the remainder of the year. The plan includes training for the school construction coordinator at the Department of Education and strategies for reaching schools early in the renovation or building process.

NEEP participated in the kick off meeting of the Sustainable Rhode Island group, whose objective is to make Rhode Island the most sustainable state in the country. NEEP provided an overview of what other states in the region are doing to make state buildings energy efficient and an update on the revised school construction regulations.

NEEP facilitated a one day Regional Working Group meeting at the East End School in Portland, Maine. The group discussed individual state and program activities and took part in a tour of the LEED Silver certified school, which has the first green roof in the state. The meeting also included presentations on the Cambridge Energy Alliance, National-CHPS, the latest in green technology and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE)Energy Smart Schools program. The thirty attendees represented Departments of Education in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation (VEIC), the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), Efficiency Maine, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the Jordan Institute, DOE, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Lung Association.

NEEP has formed a partnership with the Northeast regional EPA office to coordinate efforts on green building. An initial planning session took place in June and additional sessions are scheduled over the summer to develop outreach strategies and share resources.

In April, NEEP made two presentations at the New England School Development Council Annual Conference: “LEED, CHPS and the ABC of School Regulations” and “Conceptions and Misconceptions of High Performance Schools."

In May, NEEP presented an overview of high performance schools and the circuit rider outreach services NEEP can offer to the annual meeting of the Rhode Island Association of School Committees. These services were made possible through a grant from the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources.

Also in May, NEEP took part in a joint presentation on high performance schools at the annual conference of the Tri State Association of School Business Officials (TRI-ASBO). NEEP partnered with the state Departments of Education from Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in addition to Banwell Architects, the Jordan Institute and Hutter Construction Corporation to educate the audience on the history of high performance green schools, the Northeast-CHPS Protocol and case studies from each of the states.

In May, NEEP took part in the Clean Energy for Schools and Towns Conference in Hyannis, Mass. Geared toward communities on Cape Cod, it provided education about climate change, renewable energy technologies, green buildings, green vehicle fleets and how to finance an efficiency project.