green design lab (v1)
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lp your school goeyond recyclingh this unique
ide!
e l co m e t o S o l a r On e
een D es ig n L a b ,
choo l Green in gide an d Curricu lum TM,
exp lorin g
s t a i n a b il it y i n y o u r
h o o l a n d lo ca l
m m u n i t y .
Green Design Lab is a blueprint forning your school, allowing students
nderstand the connections betweenesources used everyday and how
impact the local environment.using on the physical school building,Guide aims to help students and
ty realize on-site projects. It providesds-on learning opportunities that bring
ainability to life in your school. Fromop gardens, building performance and
gy efciency, to schoolyard habitatsnon-toxic cleansers your schoole the perfect setting for addressing
vant issues that affect the sustain-y of your community. The objective iscilitate learning that allows students
faculty to think of their school build-s an organism connected to the local
ronment.
More Info Visitw.solar1.org
Grade Levels: 6-12Module Length: 2 weeksSubject Areas Included:
Science
Social Studies Mathematics Communications Technology
Language Arts Health
Business/Finance
Student Skills Developed:
Collaboration
Critical thinking Graphing Inquiry Problem-solving
Systems thinking Written and oral communication
Six M odu les to Explor e :
Cur r i cu lum De ta i l s :
out t he Gr een Des ign Lab
inted on recycled paper
Waste/Recycling
978-0-9822869-5-1
09 Solar One
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Solar Ones Green Design Lab,A School Greening Guide and
Curriculum
for exploring
sustainability in your schooland local community.
Thinking about a school building as an organismconnected to the environment is such a uniqueapproach to teaching about sustainability.
Its exciting. -NY City Teacher, 2009
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2009 Solar One New York, NY
ISBN 978-0-9822869-5-1
First Edition
the green design lab,a scoo g gu CucuumtMis a trademark of Solar One.All rights reserved.
Text and Content: Christopher Kennedy
Editor: Pauline AugustineDesign: Christopher Kennedy and Pauline Augustine
Layout: Gee Young Lee
All rights reserved. Except for Activity Worksheets, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or any other information story and retrieval system, without writtenpermission from Solar One. Reproduction of Activity Worksheets is for educational purposes only.
Publisher: Solar One
so O: Green Energy Arts and Education Center24-20 FDR Drive, Service Road East
New York, NY 10010Tel: (212) 505-6050
www.solar1.org
Fo Mo ifomo o O O:www.solar1.orgor
Lulu Publishingwww.lulu.comSearch Title: The Green Design Lab
Multiple copies for schools and groups are encouraged and have special pricing.
For Bulk Orders please contact Solar One
so O p pop of w vo, kow ouc o mo vomy ou u fuu.
Logo and Building Deconstruction Illustration: Christopher Kennedy
Front Cover Illustration Nicemonkey-Dreamstime.com
V1
Printed on recycled paper
Credits
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Welcome to so O g d l, a scoo g gu CucuumtM, for exploring sustain-ability in your school and local community. The Green Design Lab is a blueprint for greening your school, allowingstudents to understand the connections between the resources used everyday and the how they impact the local envi-
ronment. Focusing on the physical school building, this Guide aims to help students and faculty realize on-site proj-ects and hands-on learning opportunities that bring sustainability to life in your school. From rooftop gardens, building
performance and energy efciency, schoolyard habitats and non-toxic cleansers your school provides theperfect setting for addressing relevant issues that affect the sustainability of your community. The objective is tofacilitate learning that allows students and faculty to think of their school building as an organism connected to the lo-
cal environment.
so O g d l, a scoo g gu Cucuum, allows students the opportunityto investigate issues of sustainability in 6 different focus areas: Materials, Waste and Recycling, Energy, Air Quality,
Water and Food. Each focus area provides a dynamic framework for understanding the hidden systems behind these
important areas and presents relevant connections to the lives of students and their community. Moreover, each focusarea offers great ideas for hands-on projects that can involve the entire school, one class or just an individual.
Why concentrate on the school building? Buildings consume more resources than you think! They consume massive
amounts of water and electricity and release millions of tons of carbon dioxide. Buildings are a perfect place to startin any greening initiative. Whats more, there are many tools we will use that help foster critical math, science andlanguage arts skills, using an easily accessible pedagogy of project-based and experiential learning.
Helping your school go green is a win-win for everyone involved. This Guide will provide ways to help your school
lower utility costs and involve vital members of your community. Students will be presented with physical ways tosee sustainability in action. so O g d l, a scoo g gu CucuumtM, usesyour school building as a demonstration for a greener, healthier, connected school community.
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Welcome
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Module One: Materialsa. Welcome...............................................................................................................................22b. Objectives and Standards.....................................................................................................22c. Whats the Story?..................................................................................................................24
d. Lets Take a Closer Look!.....................................................................................................27! Activities........................................................................................................................... 29
e. Lets ReThink........................................................................................................................ 31! Activities........................................................................................................................... 33
f. Assessment...........................................................................................................................34g. Community Connection.........................................................................................................35
Module Two: Waste and Recyclingh. Welcome...............................................................................................................................38i. Objectives and Standards.....................................................................................................38
j. Whats the Story?.................................................................................................................40k. Lets Take a Closer Look!.................................................................................................... 43
! Activities...........................................................................................................................44l. Lets ReThink!.......................................................................................................................46
! Activities............................................................................................................................47m. Assessment...........................................................................................................................49n. Community Connection.........................................................................................................50
Module Three: Energyo. Welcome...............................................................................................................................52
p. Objectives and Standards....................................................................................................52q. Whats the Story?.................................................................................................................54r. Lets Take a Closer Look!.................................................................................................... 57
! Activities...........................................................................................................................59s. Lets ReThink!.......................................................................................................................62
! Activities........................................................................................................................... 64t. Assessment..........................................................................................................................65u. Community Connection.........................................................................................................66
Welcome ..........................................................................................................................................1Standards .........................................................................................................................................4How to Use .......................................................................................................................................6Introduction .....................................................................................................................................11
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Module Four: Air Qualityv. Welcome...............................................................................................................................68w. Objectives and Standards.....................................................................................................68x. Whats the Story?.................................................................................................................70y. Lets Take a Closer Look!.................................................................................................... 72
! Activities...........................................................................................................................73z. Lets ReThink!.......................................................................................................................75
! Activities........................................................................................................................... 77aa. Assessment..........................................................................................................................78bb. Community Connection.........................................................................................................79
Module Five: Watercc. Welcome...............................................................................................................................82dd. Objectives and Standards....................................................................................................82ee. Whats the Story?.................................................................................................................84ff. Lets Take a Closer Look!.................................................................................................... 86
! Activities...........................................................................................................................87gg. Lets ReThink!.......................................................................................................................89
! Activities........................................................................................................................... 90hh. Assessment..........................................................................................................................91ii. Community Connection........................................................................................................92
Module Six: Food jj. Welcome...............................................................................................................................9kk. Objectives and Standards....................................................................................................94ll. Whats the Story?.................................................................................................................96mm. Lets Take a Closer Look!.................................................................................................... 99
! Activities..........................................................................................................................102nn. Lets ReThink!......................................................................................................................104
! Activities..........................................................................................................................107oo Assessment.........................................................................................................................109
pp. Community Connection........................................................................................................110
FINAL PROJECT
A. Green Action Plan and Strategy..........................................................................................112B. 10 Simple Ideas..................................................................................................................113C. Community Projects............................................................................................................114D. LEED for Schools................................................................................................................116
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GRADE LEVELS: 6-12 MODULE LENGTH: 2 WEEKS
Subject Areas Included:
Science
Social Studies Mathematics
Communications
Technology
Language Arts
Health
Business/Finance
Student Skills Developed:
Collaboration
Critical thinking Graphing
Inquiry
Problem-solving
Systems thinking
Written and oral communication
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
ELA.1. Language or Inormation and Understanding
ELA.1a Listening and Reading - Listening and reading
to acquire information and understanding involvescollecting data, facts, and ideas.ELA.1b Speaking and Writing - Speaking and writing to
acquire and transmit information requires asking probingand clarifying questions, interpreting information in
ones own words, applying information from one contextto another, and presenting the information and interpreta-
tion clearly, concisely, and comprehensibly.
ELA.2 Language or Critical Analysis and EvaluationELA.2a Listening and Reading - Listening and readingto analyze and evaluate experiences, ideas, informa-tion, and issues requires using evaluative criteria from a
variety of perspectives and recognizing the difference inevaluations based on different sets of criteria.
ELA.2b Speaking and Writing - Speaking and writing forcritical analysis and evaluation requires presenting opin-
ions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information,and issues clearly, logically, and persuasively with refer-
ence to specic criteria on which the opinion or judgmentis based.
ELA.3 Language or Social Interaction
Oral communication in formal and informal settings
requires the ability to talk with people of different ages,genders, and cultures, to adapt presentations to
different audiences, and to reect on how talk varies indifferent situations.
ELA.4 Communication Skills
Students adjust their use of spoken, written, andvisual language to communicate effectively with a variety
of audiences
ELA.5 Applying KnowledgeStudents apply knowledge of language structure,
language conventions, media techniques, gurativelanguage, and genre to create, critique, and discussprint and non-print texts.
ELA.6 Evaluating Data
Students conduct research on issues and interests bygenerating ideas and questions, and by posing problems.
MATHEMATICS AND TECHNOLOGY
MT.1 Analysis, Inquiry, and Design
MT.1a Scientic Inquiry - The central purpose of
scientic inquiry is to develop explanations of naturalphenomena in a continuing, creative process.MT.1b Engineering Design - Engineering design is an
iterative process involving modeling and optimization
nding the best solution within given constraints.
MT.2: Inormation Systems
Information technology is used to retrieve, process,and communicate information and as a tool to enhance
learning. (Contd)
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Standards
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MT.3 Data Analysis and ProbabilityMT.3a Formulate questions that can be addressed with
data and collect, organize, and display relevant data toprovide answers MT.3b Apply transformations and use
symmetry toanalyze mathematical situations
MT.3c Develop and evaluate inferences and predictionsthat are based on data
MT.4 Connections
Recognize and apply mathematics in contexts outside ofmathematics.
MT.5 Representations
MT.5a Create and use representations to organize,record, and communicate mathematical ideas;MT.5b Select, apply, and translate among mathematical
representations to solve problems.
MT.6 Basic Operations and Concepts
MT.6a Students demonstrate a sound understanding ofthe nature and operation of technology systems.
MT.6b Students are procient in the use of technology.
MT.7 Social, Ethical and Human IssuesMT.7a Students understand the ethical, cultural, and
societal issues related to technology.MT.7b Students practice responsible use of technology
systems, information, and software.MT.7c Students develop positive attitudes toward tech-
nology uses that support lifelong learning, collaboration,personal pursuits, and productivity.
MT. 8 Technology Research Tools
MT.8a Students use technology to locate, evaluate, andcollect information from a variety of sources.
MT.8b Students use technology tools to process data
and report results.MT.9 Technology Problem Solving and Decision
Making
Students use technology resourses for solvingproblemsand making informed decisions
SCIENCE
S.1: The Living Environment
S.1a Organisms maintain a dynamic equilibrium thatsustains life.
S.1b Plants and animals depend on each other and theirphysical environment.
S.1c Human decisions and activities have had aprofound impact on the physical and living environment.
S.6: Interconnectedness: Common Themes
S.6a: Systems Thinking - Through systems thinking,people can recognize the commonalities that exist among
all systems and how parts of a system interrelate and
combine to perform specic functions.
S.6b Models - Models are simplied representations of
objects, structures, or systems used in analysis,explanation, interpretation, and design.S.6c Patterns of Change - Identifying patterns ofchange is necessary for making predictions about future
behavior and conditions.
S.7: Interdisciplinary Problem Solving
S.7a Connections - The knowledge and skills ofmathematics, science, and technology are used together
to make informed decisions and solve problems.
S.7b Strategies - Solving interdisciplinary problems
involves a variety of skills and strategies, including effec-tive work habits; gathering and processing information;
generating and analyzing ideas; realizing ideas; makingconnections among the common themes of mathematics,
science, and technology; and presenting results.
S.8 Science and Technology
S.8a Abilities to understand technological designS.8b Abilities to understand science and technologyS.8c Abilities to distinguish between natural objects and
objects made by humans
S.9 Science as Inquiry
S.9a Abilities necessary to do scientic inquiry
S.9b Understanding scientic inquiry
S.10 Personal and Social Perspectives
S.10a Personal and community health
S.10b Natural resourcesS.10c Environnemental quality
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Overall Goals/Objectives
The Green Design Lab is a Guide that develops acomprehensive school greening strategy, and encourages
students to understand how their building works.It helps students discover ways to make building
operations more sustainable. The objective is to ndcreative and simple ways to engage both your school
community and local neighborhood through a threefoldfocus: (1) local ecology, (2) building performance, and(3) overall sustainability.
Systems Thinking and Relationships
One of the main goals of this Guide is to provide aframework for students to understand and think aboutthe systems behind many of the basic things we take for
granted. It poses the questions such as where does ourwater come from? where is our food grown? and where
does our electricity come from? By thinking about thesystems and relationships between our built and natural
environments, students gain a greater understanding of thepossible solutions and problems that affect our local andglobal sustainability. (Photo: Looking at a CSO) ;
A Real World Design Lab
The Green Design Lab frames your school as an
interactive, real-world design lab. What better way toaddress sustainability than through the spaces thatstudents interact with 5 days a week! They will look atthe boilers in the basement, consider the potentials for
gardens and solar panels on your roof, and scour thecontents of the janitors closet. Relevance is oftentimes a
missing element in understanding sustainability. The GreenDesign Lab encourages teachers and students to take lo-
cal and immediate action in the very building bothparties call home.
Creative Problem Solving
Sustainability is inherently about creative problem solving.
The Green Design Lab provides a strategy for studentsto think creatively about problems that affect them in theirvery own classrooms and neighborhoods. Using design
as a tool to cultivate creativity, teachers and students, alike,are encouraged to learn practical skills such as how to
grow food, insulate a building, and basic carpentry skills.When students have a basic understanding of these
practical skills, creative interpretations are allowed to cometo fruition. (Photo: Watching a solar car in action!);
How to Use
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Format and DeliveryTime or Each Unit: 1-2 weeks
(2-3 hours or each Session)
The Green Design Lab uses an investigatory model to helpstudents discover ways they can make their school more
sustainable. Each of the six Modules included in this Guideprovides a framework for analyzing the systems connectedto each focus area. There are three main parts to this
analysis for students:
Hands-On Activities
Hands-on activities accompany each Module; activities
meant to address your physical school building.
These activities use an experiential eld-study approach,framing students as designers, allowing them to useobservation and critical thinking skills to discover how theirschool works. The activities let students explore possible
solutions for improving the schools sustainability.
Activities encourage an active and creative approach toproblem solving with an emphasis on collaborative and
cooperative team-building. Most of the activities suggeststudents be grouped into Design Teams, mimicking how
designers, architects and engineers work in the real worldIf this does not t with your classroom, please feel free toadapt each activity to be more individualized.
Assessment
After learning the basics of each focus area, students wilbe asked to answer a few questions to make sure they
were paying attention! Use this as a loose indicator on ho
well your students are absorbing the content and systemsexplored throughout each Module.
Community Connections
This nal section of the Green Design Lab provides ideasand activities for involving your schools extended com-
munity and the students families. A truly green strategyfor your school will involve everyone in your local andregional community. These communities provide invaluab
resources, ideas, and help in realizing many of the projecsuggested throughout this Guide. Use this as an opportu-
nity to reach out and connect with your neighborhood andyour students families. Help make your school an ancho
for your community.
1. Whats the Story?
This rst introductory section sets the stage for eachtopic, giving students background information and
historical context on each issue providing key wordsand summaries. Helping to set the scene, studentsgain a broad knowledge of some key issues associatedwith topics like renewable energy and water quality.
2. Lets Take a Closer Look!
This section prompts students to investigate andexplore the hidden systems connected to each re-source found in this focus area. The idea is to allow
students to pose simple questions like where doesmy water come from? and how does food get to my
cafeteria? They will then investigate further through
hands-on activities, projects, research and eld stud-
ies. This self-directed process allows students to gaina better appreciation for each focus area and takeownership of a space they use 5 days a week. We will
guide them to think of ways to make this space moresustainable.
3. Lets ReThink!
Finally, students are given the opportunity to be
creative and to rethink how their school is designedand operates. Lets ReThink provides students with
valuable tools, applications, examples, and casestudies to help inspire them to think differently aboutbuildings and their systems. At the end of this
section, students will have re-designed their buildingwhile addressing the issues in the particular focus area
all the while being encouraged to think about how allthe issues interrelate.
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Section SummaryMaterials:
Slam! Ever wonder what your school building is madeof? Or when it was built? Why is there only baby blue paintin the hallways? Who decides what desks to order? Our
school buildings are made of hundreds of different materi-als coming from all corners of the world! The materials thatare chosen affect all sorts of things including people, the
local neighborhood, and the environment. In this Module,students will learn about some of the common materials
that are used in your school building. They will nd out howthese materials affect the community and the environment.
But thats not all this Module will give students ideas
and opportunities to re-design the school from the groundup using materials and design principles that make their
school healthy and sustainable.
Waste and Recycling
Crunch! How much garbage does your school createeach day? Each week? Each year? Whats in your garbageanyway and where does it go? This Module will explorethe variety of wastes your school creates each day. It will
look at the connections that waste has to your communityand environment. More than this, students will learn about
what they can do to encourage recycling, composting andre-use of things in your school to help make the building as
efcient and sustainable as possible!
Energy
Zap! Our school buildings consume a massive amountof electricity and heating fuel each day. Consider for a
moment just how many lights, computers, radiators, airconditioners and other electronics are in your school! How
much energy is your school using in just one day and howis this connected to your students? This Module will exploreanswers to these questions. It lets students explore where
the electricity comes from in your school and the impactsthis use has on your community and environment. More-
over, students will investigate ways to save energy, andeven create energy, using renewable sources and tech-
nologies.
Air Quality
Phew! Do you smell that? Its not what you think. Thatsmell may be coming from all the chemicals inside the
janitors closet, from the copy room and the computer lab.
Have you ever thought about the air inside of your school?Is it clean and easy to breathe? In this Module, we will lookat the air quality inside of your school. Students will inves-
tigate if there are toxins coming from substances insideand emissions coming from outside the building. At the end
of this Module, students will be able to breathe a little better
by proposing non-toxic cleaners and nd natural ways toventilate their school building.
Water
Flush! How many bathrooms does your school have?How about kitchen sinks and lab sinks? How much wa-
ter do all of these sources use every day? Where does itcome from and where does it go after use? In this Module,
students will explore where drinking water comes fromand where wastewater goes. Also, they will look at waysto reduce water consumption in your school building. From
green roofs to low ow toilets, saving water can be easy
and it all helps your local environment. Lets nd out how.
Food
MMMM! Lunch time! Sloppy Joes, French fries, chickenngers who makes this stuff anyway and where doesit all come from? School cafeterias have to provide food
for everyone in your school! Thats a lot of food everyday!Because of the massive amount of food needed most
school districts provide pre-cooked and frozen foods thatcome from far away. This isnt good for the environment or
our bodies. In this Module, students will learn about food inyour school and ways that they can improve the amount oflocal and sustainably grown food in your cafeteria. This is
something we can all chew on!
(Photo: Collecting water sample)
(Photo:Checkingthe boiler)
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Final ProjectIntroduction
Bringing it All Together
After looking at the six important focus areas, students willbegin to connect each issue back to the central themes
of interconnectivity and systems thinking. Each Modulesfocus area will be fused together providing a new schoolblueprint for sustainability.
Pedagogies/Teaching Styles
Experiential Learning
Experiential learning encourages the use of non-formal
learning environments to structure a lesson or subject.
A streetscape, park, grocery store, or local communityorganization can be an amazing tool for real-world learning
and student engagement. Experiential learning is a cre-ative strategy for absorbing knowledge. It brings relevance,
participation and engagement into an otherwise structured
world. The benets of this kind of learning style areexponential, providing direct contact with community mem-bers, peers, and local environments. It helps students formmemories that lead to life-long empowerment and contextu-
alization of knowledge.
Project-Based Learning
Project-Based Learning structures learning around a
discrete project where students have to apply their knowledge of a subject by doing instead of just thinking. Eve
more, its a framework for cultivating applicationsin critical thinking that gives students an opportunity toapply a skill to a real-world problem. Project-Based
Learning allows opportunities to connect students to locacommunities and address real-world problems. It provide
students with the ability to engage physically in a task allthe while learning about subject focus.
T h e G r e en D e s ig n L a b u s e s ap r o j e ct -b a s e d le a r n i n g a p p r o a c h
t o g r e e n i n g y o u r s c h o o l . B y
m a k i n g y o u r s ch o o l s s u s t a i n a b i li t
a specic and physical project,it allows your local communities,students, faculty, and familiesto help dene parameters andd i sco v e r w a y s t o b e in c lu d e d i n t h e
process of retrotting andr e -d e s ig n i n g y o u r s c h o o l.
The Green Design Lab encourages an experiential
learning approach to sustainability, an approach
that helps students connect abstract issues to
real-world situations and problems. To know
something is a great frst step. To experience this
knowledge frst hand is a whole other world.(Photo: Measuring for installation
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Excited solar racer, CSO view, Solar building model , Furnace exploration, Measuring for installation, Water sample collection Solar One/C. KennedyGreen House Antishock - Dreamstime.com
ioucoGreenhousesCammerayda-Dreamstime.comSmoke Stacks@Feldor SIderov Fotolia.com
Landll@bilderbox - Fotolia.comGreen Floorplan Nicemonkey - Dreamstime.comLettuce@Hans Slegers - Fotolia.comSchool living system diagram Solar One/C. Kennedy
Mou O: MSchool exterior Sebcz - Dreamstime.comCitymap , Cement, Glass,Vinyl, Wood, Brick, Cob, Mosaic - WikipediaWood processing diagram Duettograph - Dreamstime.comSchematic design , LEED Sign, Building model Solar One/C. Kennedy
Schematic Deskcube - Dreamstime.comEcofootprint Nicemonkey - Dreamstime.com
Mou two: W/rcycLandll, Trash, Plastic, eWaste -WikipediaStory Of Stuff Annie LeonardRecycle sign, Recycle bins, Recycle sign-making Solar One/C. KennedyRecycling_symbol, Trash can icon, House/recycle icon Nicemonkey - Dreamstime.comRecycle symbol Grafoo - Dreamstime.comSelf-watering plastic bottle greenscaper.com/insideurbangreen.org
Mou t: eySolar windows Jewhyte - Dreamstime.comkwh Dgilder - Dreamstime.comMultimeter - WikipediaPower plantAnyka-Fotolia.comBoiler furnace, Furnace exploration, Measuring electricity, Solar racers Solar One/C. KennedyWindpower@Alphasprin Dreamstime.comBuilding performance equipment - Community Environmental CenterCFL lightbulb installation Grafoo - Dreamstime.comSolar panels Dreamingof - Dreamstime.comAccueil Illustration- Wikipedia
Mou Fou: a QuyWindsock , Cleaning products - WikipediaLungs Portiaremnic - Dreamstime.comDaylighting Indykb - Dreamstime.comCleaning surfaces Yuri Arcura - Dreamstime.comAsthma Pelvidge - Dreamstime.com
Map search Iofoto - Dreamstime.comAersol can Nicemonkey - Dreamstime.comDaylight - WikipediaBioregion map Vectorminam - Dreamstime.comGreen cleanser Destinyvision - Dreamstime.comSmoke stack Passigatti - Dreamstime.comPhotosynthesis Trombax - Dreamstime.comNatural cleansers Pauline Augustine
Mou Fv: WWater tap, Watershed map WikipediaGlass of water , CSO, Rainwater harvesting Wikipedia
Safe Drinking Water Act Diagram, Green Roof- EPAWatershed Toynutz - Dreamstime.comMap search Iofoto - Dreamstime.comRainwater barrel, Water lters, Water quality testing Solar One/C. KennedyWater drop Nicemonkey - Dreamstime.com
Mou sx: FooSalad Nicemonkey - Dreamstime.comWater quality testing, Garden containers, Garden 1, Garden 2, Vermicompost bin Solar One/C. KennedyIndustrial farm, Groundwater pollution diagram, Agriculture pollution - WikipediaCorn harvest - USDAFarmers Market, Chicks, Cooking in Class Aubin Pictures
F PojcInvestigation Community Environmental CenterClass meeting, Working on garden, Making plans Solar One/C. KennedyWorm, Garden WikipediaGreen roof Green Roof Service LLCLEED sign C. Kennedy
Picture Credits
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Green DesignLabAn Introduction to Greening Your School
Introduction
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Introduction (or Students)
bckou ifomo:
The environment is everyones issue!
We live on such a brilliant planet, and it contains amaz-
ing diversity! Millions of species of sh, birds, mammalsand insects all live together in a close web that brings usall together. However, as we spread across the globe newchallenges arise that push the limits of this diversity and
connectivity on the planet, challenges that are affectingeveryone and everything in some form.
For instance, across the world, greenhouse gas emissions
like C02 grew by 80 percent between 1970 and 2004 andcould double again by 2030. These are gases that are
beginning to inuence the climate patterns of our entireplanet! This will affect how we get our food, where we live,and how much we pay for the products and services we
use everyday. So this is a big deal!
The planet is something we need to keep in balance withwhat we do every single day. To get you started thinkingabout how we can regain this balance, this resource guide
is going to look at an approach called Green Design thatmay provide you with some ideas on where to begin. Why
design? Because design, and more particularly greendesign, addresses many issues that intersect when we look
at issues of sustainability.
W you kow o o, you ! -a designer that has the knowledge to begin applying greensolutions today and in the future. The next step is knowingwhere to start!
W o expc:Welcome to the Green Design Lab: a toolkit for re-design-ing your school to be more green and sustainable! Follow
along as we explore some major ecological issues in yourown school and neighborhood! Remember, your schoolisnt going to become green overnight thats why we
need you -- thats right you -- to be a green designer,architect, planner and visionary for a school that is more
in balance and healthier for your community and your ownbody. We are going to explore six main Sections.
The Green DesignLabntroduction
Learning Objectives Module Overview
This Introduction will introduce students to major conceptsused throughout this Guide including sustainability, green
design, and biomimicry. This is a beginning primer that canbe used to introduce students to the individual focus areasthat are explored in each Section. The idea is to start a
dialogue about issues of sustainability in your communityand in your school. Use this as an opportunity to start an
ongoing list of projects, needs and ideas you and studentsmay have about re-designing their school to be greener,
healthier and more in balance with your local community
and environment.
Students will better understand the concepts of
sustainability and green design as tools they can
apply to make their school their own Students will learn about major ecological issues
facing communities nationwide Students will learn how to think critically about
their own school building as an organism that
uses resources
Students will begin to use green design strategies
to solve problems in their own school
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M:What is your school made of anyway? In this Section,
we are going to look at how your school building affectsyour environment. We are going to explore materials
that will be more sustainable and green for your schooland think of ways to integrate them into classrooms,cafeterias, and libraries all around the school.
Waste/Recycling:How much garbage does your school create? Ever
wonder whats in all that garbage and where it goes?
This Section will help answer some of these questions.It will also help you and your school create a recycling
and waste management plan that works for everyone!
Energy:
Where does the energy for your school building comefrom and how does it affect your local environment?
This section will nd out where your electricity comesfrom, help you determine just how much energy youare using and explore ways to save energy and create
it in a more sustainable way!
Air Quality:Phew! Whats that smell? What kinds of cleaners does
your janitor use and how does that affect your air qual-ity? In this Section, we will explore the air inside your
school. Well look at how the indoor air quality can af-fect your health and how outdoor emissions affect your
local environment.
Water:How many bathrooms and sinks do you have in your
school? Ever wonder where that water goes after youush? Well in this Section we will nd out just wherethat water goes, where it comes from. Well determineways in which you can help save water and use it ininnovative ways!
Time for lunch! But where does that food actually come
from? In this Section, well concentrate on the cafeteria.Well look at where your food comes from and how thisaffects your health and your local environment.
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1. W ?(a focu o u )
Using too much too ast! What this means or you and
your community.
So how did we get into this mess of pollution, trafc, highgasoline prices, and energy crunches? And why does itseem like things are getting worse?
A good place to start is to look back in history to a timecalled: The Industrial Revolution. This movement, geared
toward manufacturing and production, was initiated in theU.S. and other countries at the end of the Eighteenth
Century. When this movement was set into motion,factories began to open up across the country. Thefactories required fuel and other resources to make their
products. Most factories used resources like coal, freshwater, and iron to create electricity, to heat up furnaces
and used water to cool down these manufacturingprocesses.
At rst it seemed like a great idea! America had so muchroom, so many resources, and a craving for consumergoods like more clothing, more electronics, household
items, building materials etc. However, with all thisdevelopment, very little was been done to think about the
impact it may have on the natural world. As a result, theindustries that helped us create the economy that we
have today, have also damaged many of the majorecosystems. We are now seeing and feeling the effectsof this damage worldwide.
From falling water tables to soaring oil prices and collaps-
ing sheries, the ecological systems that provided materi-
als for these factories are now the systems that we need topreserve most!
Even though we have realized the impacts of the way wemake and use things, many countries still push forwardwith the same strategies, strategies that are affecting ev-
erything from our global climate, to the water quality in yourtown, to the very air you are breathing right now!
So whats the big deal? The very way in which we have
designed our modern system of living is slowly harming
the very people it is meant to benet. We dump pesticidesand chemicals on our food. We emit harmful air pollutantsthat cause some of the highest rates of asthma anywherein the world. We dump waste into our waters and develop
land into strip malls and housing developments so fast thatwe have little more than a moment to think what kinds of
effects it may have on the local environment.So yes, this is a big deal because it affects you right here
and now. It affects your family, and the family you hope tostart. However, it doesnt have end up this way. You and Ihave the collective power to change this system toward a
more sustainable future, on that understands how to designwith the systems of the earth in mind. When we do this, we
can reverse even the largest of environmental concerns.The tricky part is getting everyone onboard.
So its up to you to spread the message, not by yelling atpeople or pointing ngers, but through creative action andapplication of the solutions that already exist all around
you. All you have to do is start thinking like a designer.
Connections and Relationships:Our shared home, the Earth, may seem big, but it isalso connected to everything we do. The water, the air,
the land are all connected through vast climatepatterns, geologic activity and ocean currents.
Design Matters:
When we design against these natural ows andpatterns, our earth can be affected negatively, inuenc-
ing the habitats, food systems and the life of every livingthing on the planet.Buildings Consume:Americas buildings consume 45% of the nations
energy, including about 75% of the nations electricityand 7% of water while contributing to massive amounts
of CO2 emissions. With over 60 million students andfaculty in millions of school building across the country,
these environmental impacts add up!
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Some examples:
WOur bodies are nearly 75% water. The average human
consumes 2 liters (less than a gallon) of water each day.What would we do without it? Well we wouldnt be around
for much longer. Heres the problem: Only 1% of the wateron the Earth is fresh water, good for drinking. Yet most
of the world lives next to oceans, which you may haveguessed are salty. Nearly 20% of the population does nothave access to clean water and that number is expected to
increase exponentially. Soon we wont have enough water.
Feeling thirsty anyone?
FoodFood isnt getting to where it is needed. How we grow our
food is harming the planet. Although we have enough foodfor everyone on the planet right now, almost a quarter of
the worlds people do not get enough food to eat. Whatsthe deal? The rst problem is distribution and the second isthe way in which we produce our food and trade it. Large-
scale farming takes large amounts of resources, while atthe same time damaging the land where the food is grown,
so much so that the topsoil can erode and taint our water.Another important fact is that because of some free trade
agreements, most food is not even eaten in the countriesthat actually grow it. Moreover, we havent even mentionedshifting climate patterns that may begin to affect farmers
worldwide!
EnergyA new infrastructure is needed! Youve all been told to turnoff the lights or use CFL light bulbs. But really, what is the
deal with energy? Why cant we just make more powerplants? Well the key resources used in these power plants
are fossil fuels that are expected to be gone soon. So nofuel = no power. What about nuclear power? These plants
require loads of fresh water to operate, and as weve al-ready seen, we dont have a drop to spare. So what do wedo? Well, the sun, the wind, and the earth all provide free,
clean energy sources. The problem is getting these energysources set up and switching over to these alternative
powers. Although solar panels exist, the cost of this tech-nology is high and we need more incentives and laws fromthe government to help us switch. So where does design
come in? Well the next step is to gure out a renewableenergy infrastructure than can replace the old power plants.
Up for the challenge?
Waste and RecyclingO.K. -- recycling -- youve got that down, right? But weve
been recycling for over 40 years. Well, the problem is thawe are buying more and more stuff. Not only that, we are
producing stuff that cannot be recycled. What happens toall that stuff? You guessed it. It goes into landlls and isburned. Plastic bags have gotten so bad, for instance tha
the polymer strands in the material are being found in thebodies of animals all over the world. The design challeng
we are facing isnt recycling. The problem is bigger thanthat. Its a genuine challenge to re-think how we make stu
Still think you need that plastic bag?
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2. Sustainability and Design
1. Sustainability (Introduction)
What is this word sustainability anyway? Youve seen it
before on the news, in books even in TV commercials. Itsa word that can easily loose meaning if you dont know alittle bit about what this word actually means. So lets take a
closer look!
Sustainability literally means to keep constant. Unless wehave a focus its just a term. So lets talk about ecological
or environmental sustainability: the idea that a communityor individual is trying to keep an ecosystem (a place where
plants and animals live) in constant good health. We canapply this word to so many things! Here we are applyingthe concept of environmental sustainability to your school!
So in this discussion lets think about sustainability as ablueprint for a school building that doesnt harm your
local environment or community. Sustainability is all aboutbalance, creating a balance between the resources your
school and your body needs, and the impact this balance
has on your neighborhood and local environment. So startthinking in terms of strategies that could last or impact your
community for 5 or 10 years to come!
Still not sure what this word means or has to do with you?Well lets look at some examples:
Zero-energy, Zero-carbon, Zero-emissions,
Zero-waste: For everything from buildings to municipal
wastewater treatment facilities, communities arethinking about ways to bring their wastes down to zero.
Sound impossible? Well, consider that most ecosystemsrecycle over 98% of their own waste to make into food. Hu-
mans recycle on average 4%. Any improvement throughefciency and feedback loops would make ahuge difference.
Local Economy: Smaller Footprints, Cooler Stuff andMore Cash: More and more communities are using creative
strategies that keep things local and are re-imagining howwe buy and sell things. In Ithaca, NY, residents can use
time to buy and sell goods, offering their time in return forservices. In localities all over California, local goods andservices are given discounts so that people buy locally.
These community efforts reduce carbon emissions andtypically save people money.
Local Food: The local food movement is gainingpopularity all over the country as people realize the
importance of local and organic farming practices. Smallfarms, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) operationsand farmers markets are springing up at exponential rates
all over the country! Renewable Energy: California just passed a renewable
energy law increasing the amount of money it gives toparticipants in programs. It is making a commitment to
renewable energy sources statewide. The trend continuesacross the country as coal and natural gas power plantsbecome too expensive to operate, and fossil fuels diminish.
K e y w o r d s Green Design: Green Design is a design process
that considers the impact of design on our localenvironment.
Environmental Sustainability: Sustainability is a
blueprint for planning an equitable future for people andlocal environments. Sustainability is balance.
Ecology: Ecology is the study of nonliving and living
things, that is, how people, animals, plants, andeverything interact with each other. Ecosystem:An Ecosystem is a community of livingthings and the environment in which they live.
Green Design and Innovation: Green design isdesign for people and our shared home the earth.
Innovation comes from understanding the processesand relationships between each of these elements,
because they are always connected.
K
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2. Green Design
Everyone designs; it is basic to all human activities.How we design the things we use every day affects our
home, our families, and our health. In fact, as more andmore people are born and populate communities on theearth, the way we design and consume things becomes
increasingly important.
There are now over 6 billion people living on the planet andpredications from scientists around the world expect that
number to keep going up over time. Thats a lot of people!
All of these new people coming into the world need stuff tolive, like shelter, food and clothing. Where is it all coming
from, and does it make a difference how we make it andget rid of it? The short answer to that is yes, it does matter.
We are nding this out the hard way.
Our current design, construction, and manufacturingprocesses are based on linear (straight) systems,from production, to use, to waste. A linear system is one
where the relationships and connections to our sharedenvironment and communities are not included in the
planning and design process.
This linear design system prompts us to build disposablebuildings and products. We pump energy in and CO2 out.We pipe water in and sewage out. Now does that make any
sense? Construction consumes 40% of materials produced,and accounts for 40% of our waste stream. Of materials
used to create products, 6% ends up as the productitself, and 94% ends up as waste material and 80% of all
products produced end up in a landll within 6 weeks. 80percent of the environmental impact of the products, ser-vices, and infrastructures around us is determined at
the design stage. (Source: U.S. Green Building Council)
Thats right, 80%! Additionally, the majority of environmen-tal impacts are locked into design before the pencil touches
the paper. If we can make decisions about our design inthe initial stages, then we can avoid all the unnecessaryenvironmental impacts. So perhaps there is hope after all.
Green Design is a design process that considers theimpact of design on our local environment. By using gree
design techniques, we can lessen ecological impacts and
nd sustainable ways of designing products, services,buildings, and everything else. Ecological Design is allabout using the environment to inspire and drive a design
In this Guide, we are going to be talking a lot about desig
the different approaches, and denitions of design andwhat all of this means. However, the way we describe
and talk about design changes, based on whom you talk
to and in what context. But the best denition of all isgoing to come from you. So keep this in mind as weexplore some concepts of design and get closer to
understanding it a little bit better. Here are some guidingprinciples to get you started:
Place - Innovative designs consider the local, cultural,and historical context of where the design will be used or
installed. Listening to the people and understanding spacof a certain place is crucial to develop a good and green
design. Cycles & Process - Green design must work withthe cycles and loops within nature. If a design is not
inclusive of these natural systems, efciency will decreasand your design will not work in relationship to your
local environment. Keep it Local - Keeping materials, production, and use
of a design local increases the sustainability of a projectsubstantially. If we use local materials, we minimizetransportation and support the local economy.
Minimize Impacts - An innovative and green designconsiders the impacts on the local environment and build
ways to minimize these impacts right into the design of thstructure or item itself.
Waste is a Good Thing - When considering greendesign strategies, waste is not a negative thing. In fact,waste is something to recycle and use as energy. Waste
denitely a good thing and an essential consideration in agreen design.
The Longer the Better - A green design plans forlong-term use and durability and asks: how long will my
design be standing? How long will it take this product to brecycled and returned into the earth? These areessential questions to consider.
t oo w: ou of , com-p, v wo cou v o-gether to address these problems and fnd solutions
O of ouo c ign!
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3. School as an organism
ioucoOne of the main objectives of this guide is to start thinking
about your school building as a living organism. Soundcrazy? Well it can be a great way to help us think aboutsome complex design strategies and problems that you are
going to face as you begin to green and re-design yourschool. To get us started lets think about a word called
ommcy: a method that uses nature as inspiration tosolve problems and help us design more sustainably.
The natural world provides some of the most ingenious
designs on the planet: beetles that can pull water out of fog,chameleons that can change their body color in an instant,
camels that can store water in their bodies andlizards that can regenerate their broken tails - and thats
just the beginning. Biomimicry allows us to take some ofthese ingenious designs and apply them to your school and
your community.
Sounds great right? However, where do you start? And
how do designers actually use this idea of sustainability?Well lets look at two ways of thinking that will help us
understand just how to get this started: Systems thinkingand closed-loop modeling, two important and often used
thought processes that can help a designer consider alocal environment in his/her design process.
Systems thinking Systems thinking is a unique approachto problem solving, looking at every element of a design
as a series of systems: everything is connected. Think of asystem like a community. In a community there are a lot
of people, buildings, services, and elements all interactingin the same space. A lot of stuff is going on, right? Thiscommunity acts like a system. Everyone is a part of
the community because they are in the same space orattached to that space in some way.
When we talk about a community, we cannot isolate one
person or one thing, because then the entire communitywould not be included. So its everything and everyone allat once!
To set up a design model that uses systems thinking, start
out with a Ven Diagram. Consider all the elements thata design may affect like a particular neighborhood, people,
plants, or animals. Place each element in a circle anddetermine where these elements overlap. For instanceif you want to design a pair of shoes you will have to
consider the air pollution produced by creating the rubber,the land used to grow the cotton used in the shoe or the
animals used in the production of leather used.
Once you have these relationships down, you can beginthinking about how each process affects another. You canthen begin to design to avoid harming all the elements.
Closing the loop - closed-loop modeling. Now that wehave a better understanding of Systems Thinking, lets look
at another way in which designers visualize this kind ofapproach to design. Closed loop modeling is a way of or-
ganizing the ow of inputs and outputs of our design, mak-ing sure that everything we design considers the waste,
energy, and overall efciency of our process. By planningand mapping out this input/output ow, we can then ndways to connect these two elements so they are connected
like a loop. Our rst step is to create an input/output owdiagram like this:
The next step then is to take this input/output model and to
connect the outputs back to the beginning again - closingthe loop.
In order to achieve this, designers build systems modelsto chart out exactly what is going in and out of a design.
This aids in creating a closed loop, a system in whichwe can model and track everything coming in, like raw
materials, and everything going out, like waste frompackaging and disposal. This is NOT easy to do.
Designing a model that includes everything is nearly im-possible. However, the closer we get to closing our loop,the better our green design will be.
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Unit Overview
MaterialsThis Module provides an introduction to green designand sustainable materials that could be integratedinto the design of your school building. A backgroundwill be supplied for students to understand the basics ofhow most schools are constructed and how this im-pacts their local communities and environment.
EnergyThis Module will focus on energy use and efciencyin your school building. Students will be encouragedto think critically about how their school buildingconsumes and uses energy and the resultant impactsthis production/use has on their local community
and environment.
WaterThis Module will concentrate on water-use andconservation. Students will be encouraged to thinkabout how water is used in their school, where it comesfrom, where it goes and asked to createoriginal designs that can help conserve and usewater in innovative ways.
2
FoodIn this Module we will explore issues related to food,how it gets to your school and the environmentalimpacts of this process. Students will be encouraged toinvestigate the source of their food and consider
alternative ways of creating a more sustainable andlocal food system for their school.
Waste/RecyclingIn this Module we will explore ways in which your stu-dents can take the lead and start thinking creativelyabout how to implement and maintain a functional recy-cling system. They will also be shown how to educateothers about the need to reduce their overall consump-tion.
Air QualityThis Module will focus on issues related to indoor airquality and health inside school buildings. A numberof environmental and health issues will be presentedstudents with an aim to facilitate critical thinking abou
how to address issues related to air quality.
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Materials
Module One
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Materials
Objec t ives To understand the impacts
of building material choices
and design on the environment
To think critically about
materials and designs that
will make your school more
sustainable
To understand the life
cycle of common materials
and resources used in school
buildings
W e lco m e:A background will be supplied for students to understandthe basics of how most schools are constructed and how
this impacts their local communities and environment.
This Module provides an introduction to green design and
sustainable materials that could be integrated into the
design of your school building.
S t a n d a r d sWhats the Story?English Language Arts: ELA.3Mathematics and Technology:MT.1aScience: S.1b, S.1c, S.9a,S.10b
Lets Take a Closer LookEnglish Language Arts: ELA.6,ELA.3Mathematics and Technology:MT.5a, MT.4Science: S.1d, S.7b, S.10b
Lets Re-ThinkEnglish Language Arts: ELA.5,ELA.6Mathematics and Technology:MT.3a, MT.1bScience: S.8a, S.8b
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MaterialsModule Overview
1. Whats the Story:This section will explore
issues related to building
performance and sustain-able materials.
2. Lets Take aCloser Look: Studentswill be encouraged to
analyze the overall design
and materials choices in
their school building. A
series of activities and an
investigatory worksheet
will help students explore
some of these issues.
3. Activities: Room by Room:
A School Blueprint
Materials Library!
Footprinting
Investigation Worksheet
4. Lets Rethink:Now that students have a
basic grasp of sustainabil-
ity and materials choices,they will be asked to
rethink the design and
materials used in their
school to make the
building more sustainable.
5. Activities: ecoFlip your School
Cob Sculpture
Prole: Clearview
Elementary School in
Hanover, Pennsylvania
Assessment
Community
Connections
Recycled mosaic with
community members
M os t s c hoo l bu i ld i n gs
a r e m a d e o f h u n d r e d s o f
d i ff er e n t m a t e r ia l sco m in g f r om a ll co r n e r s
o f t h e w o r ld !
The kinds of materials we choose
affect all sorts of things including your
students and their local neighborhood
and environment. In this Module, your
students will explore some of the
common materials that are used in
your school building. In addition, they
will nd out how these materials
affect your community and your
environment. The goal for this Module
is to give students ideas and
opportunities to re-design your school
from the ground up using materials and
design principles that make your school
healthy and sustainable.
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T h e b ig Q u e s t io n s
Whats The Story?
B u ild i n g s a n d
Co m m u n it ies
Since the 1950s the United States has
undergone a sweeping transformation inhow we live and build communities. The
country was once a mix of rural country-side communities of farms and large
cities. Can you imagine that most of NewYork used to be farmland!? And that mostof Los Angeles was in fact a part of the
desert valley? As time went on, cities gotbigger, people started spreading out, and
we began to transition to what is nowpredominantly suburban and urban ways
of living.
As this trend spread across the country,
designers and architects who were usedto building in small city spaces now had
the opportunity to create buildings and
communities that were much larger andbuilt around cars. This meant more roadsand bigger houses. Our towns becamefarther and farther apart. During the past
20 years more and more stores, in theform of strip malls, have been built alongmajor highways and major roads.
Now, almost 50 years later, we are
starting to see problems resulting fromthese kinds of designs. Big houses andlarge buildings use lots of energy, water
and other resources. Getting from thestore to your home in a car requires gas.
Also, these resources are becoming a lotharder to acquire and are beginning to
cost more money.
With almost a billion people expected to
move into the worlds already crowdedcities, how are we going to ensure that
we have clean water, enough energy, anda way to get people around? Sustainable
community planning may offer us somesolutions. Lets fnd out more...
The materials typically used for a newbuilding have classically been chosen
based on cost and not necessarily on
location or the sustainability of a material.Common materials like cement, steel andglass require massive amounts of energy,water and other resources to make. Then
there is the other issue of transporting thematerials to the site where the building is
located. All of these processes can havenegative impacts on your environment.
(For instance, the air emissions releasedfrom transforming raw materials into build-ing materials contributes to air and water
pollution. (Contd)
Material
K e y w o r d s Renewable
Material
A material that comes
from a local source or
from a resource that
can be easily and
sustainably re-grown
or sustained.
Fly Ash
Waste from power
plants used to create
more sustainable
concrete.
VOC
Volatile Organic
Compound a toxic
gas that can be found
in some common housepaints.
Cob
a building material
consisting of clay, straw
and water.
1. Sustainable Materials
Why should we worry
about what materials are
used in a building? What is a
sustainable material?
2. My School Building
Whats your school made of
anyway? Where do building
materials come from? And
how do they impact your local
environment and community?
3. A Sustainable School
What would your school look
like if it were constructed
from sustainable materials?
How would it be better for
your environment?
M a t e r i a ls a n d t h e E n v i r o n m e n t K
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(Contd) Also, the methods in which
many manufacturers and companiesextract raw materials like wood,minerals and oil to make building
materials can harm ecosystems inmany ways, such as deforestation,
water pollution and mining.
W h a t s t h e
I m p a ct ?
So what does this have to do withyou? The ways in which your school
and community are designed, and thematerials chosen for those designs,
have a big impact on you and yourfamily from air pollution to land useissues. Consider for a moment your
school and community as a livingorganism! In order to think of the
school in terms of sustainability,we must rst imagine the school
building as a living organism. Just asan animal or our body needs water,food and a habitat, or a home to live,
a building also requires inputs inorder for it to function properly and
be healthy. If the building is healthy,the communities in that space will be
healthy also. The materials we chooseto build new schools, homes, andbuildings inuences how these inputs
are transformed! A conventionalbuilding, constructed with materials
that may not be sustainable, will
be more difcult to make moresustainable. Green buildings anddesign techniques however decreasethe impact on our local environment
and allow buildings to save costsrelated to everything from water
to electricity.
In this section, we are going to lookat the materials used to construct yourschool and consider the environmental
and social impacts of these materials.The idea is to design a school care-
fully, choosing materials that have a
low impact on your environmentand your community.
A n a t o m y o f
Y o u r S ch o o l
So whats up with your school build-
ing? Have you ever considered justwhat kinds of materials go into making
a building? How do you think this mayaffect your community and yourenvironment? To answer some of
these questions lets look at whatkinds of common building materials
you will see throughout your school:
Cement - Cement is made by
heating limestone with small quantitiesof other materials (such as clay)
to 1450C in a kiln! This is thencombined with gypsum into a powder,
creating Ordinary Portland Cement(OPC), the most commonly used typeof cement. Limestone is a sedimentary
rock composed largely of the mineralcalcite (calcium carbonate: CaCO3).
Limestone can be found in states like
Indiana, Alabama and Texas althoughmost cement now comes from Indiaand China where a building boom hasresulted in a massive need for new
cement. Cement is one of the mostunsustainable materials used in build-
ings resulting in 5% of humankindscarbon dioxide emissions. Cement
relies on the decomposition oflimestone, a chemical change thatfrees carbon dioxide as a byproduct.
Concrete is the second most usedproduct on the planet, after water, and
almost half of
it is producedin China(where 540
million tonsof C02 was
released justin 2008).
Glass - Glass is made primarily of
a substance called silica (SiO2)(very much like sand you nd at the
beach!). To make most of the glasswe now use in buildings, silica ismelted to temperature of over 2300
and then other substances like sodiuand lime (sodium carbonate (Na-
2CO3) and calcium oxide to be exac(CaO)) are added to the melted silicAfter preparing the glass mixture, th
raw materials are brought to a furnawhere bubbles are removed and the
glass is formed. The amount of fuel heat glass furnaces is immense! All
this heat requires phenomenal energconsumption resulting in greenhousegas emissions that some calculate
could be as much as 2 tons of CO2,per 1 ton of glass. In addition, the
extractionsilica (san
for the glais incredibtaxing on
anyenviron-
ment.
Steel -Steel ismade up
of primar-ily iron.
Iron canbe found in the earths crust only in
combination with oxygen or sulfur.To make steel, manufacturers use aprocess called smeltering, which me
the iron and other additives to 1370 (Contd)
Whats The Story?Material
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Whats The Story?This allows the iron to combine with
other elements like martensite, whichincreases the strength of the ironcomposite (a mixture of different
substances). The smeltering processas well as obtaining iron ore has an
incredible impact on the planet! Largequarries are formed around mountains
and other natural areas around thecountry to extract this raw material
and then transport it to a smelter plant.The process of smelting creates many
byproducts including emissions thatcould be toxic to surrounding air qual-ity if not properly contained or treated.
Vinyl Flooring - Vinyl ooring is made
of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), with vari-ous compounds added to change thecolor, exibility, and hardness. To
produce this, manufacturers take thevinyl as a liquid, creating a mixture
that can be spread into a thin layerby a rolling process. Then the liquid
plastic is dried through an applica-tion of heat and air. PVC production is
the largest use of chlorine gas in the
world, consuming 40 percent of totalchlorine production, (16 million tons/year) worldwide. Making PVC createsmillions of tons of organochlorine
byproducts that can seep into watersystems next to manufacturing facili-
ties. Burning PVC or vinyl materialscan be even more hazardous by
releasing toxins into the air. Exposureto PVC can be lethal, contributing tocancer, reproductive impairment, and
neurological problems.
Wood - Wood used in a building is
called lumber. The type of wood useddepends on the purpose. Older build-ings were constructed with balloon
framing, using wood to frame wallsand rooms inside a building. New
home construction alone consumestwo-fths of all lumber and plywoodused in the United States, and a
typical 1700 square foot wood framehome requires the equivalent of clear
cutting one acre of forest. Within U.S.national forests alone, at least 70,000
acres of old-growth timber (a kind oflumber that comes from trees thathave been growing for a substantial
period) have been harvested eachyear since the mid-1980s.
Brick - A brick is made from red clay
and secured with mortar, a kind ofglue agent made of cement, sand, andwater. Bricks are an ancient building
material dating back to the communi-
ties in ancient regions of the MiddleEast! To make a brick you need someraw materials kaolin and shale these
materials are crushed, combined withmortar, and then red in a giant
furnace. Most bricks are produced inthe Southern and Midwestern part
of the United States because thatswhere you nd the most shale and
clay. Each brick requires a lot ofenergy to make. In addition, lots of
gasoline is needed to transport eachbrick to another location!
T h e s e a r e ju s t s o m eo f t h e m a jo r p a r t s
o f y o u r s ch o o l
bu i ld i n g . B e g i nt o t h in k a b o u t t h e
k in d s o f m a t e r ia ls
y o u n o t ic e in y o u r cla s s ro o m a n d y o u r
s ch o o l . W h e r e d ot h ey co m e fr o m a n d
h o w a r e t h ey m a d e?
Material
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Lets Take a Closer LookMaterial
W h a t s t h eim p a ct ?
Now that we know about some of
the major kinds of materials used toconstruct your school we can beginto think about the impacts this
process might have on your local com-munity and environment. The process
of constructing a building has manysteps! Building materials begin as a
raw material from the earthusually deep in the earths crust.These materials are extracted and
then transformed into steel, glass, andcement. Finally, the building materials
are transported to a site and used toconstruct a building like your school.
Lets take a closer look at this processand consider how these steps impactthe environment. Remember also to
think about ways we could rethink thisprocess to be more sustainable.
Harvesting Think about wherethe raw materials are coming fromand what it takes to get these rawmaterials to a manufacturing facil-
ity. Lumber requires logging a forest,bricks require clay that comes from
the earths crust and concrete requiresmassive amounts of limestone found
in mineral deposits, mountains andother geologic formations. Its nevereasy to extract raw materials from
anywhere. Extraction disrupts the
animals and plants that call thesespaces their home.
Production Now that we have a raw
material its time to transform that intoa building material like glass, cementor lumber. Each material requires a
massive amount of energy and waterto create a nal product. In addition,
the production and manufacturingprocess typically creates a massive
amount of byproducts like carbondioxide (a greenhouse gas that con-tributes to climate change),
wastewater, and nasty air emissions.
Transportation Most buildingmaterials are transported huge
distances to get to the nal site whethey will be used. Many materials
come from long distances sometimes from the other side of theworld! The transportation process
requires one main thing: fuel. Wheththe fuel is gasoline, diesel or biodies
(fuel that is plant-based), the use offuel takes a toll on our environment.
Gasoline and diesel release emissiointo our air and biodiesel requiresmassive amounts of water and
land-use to produce.
Construction and
Disposal
Ok so weve made oumaterials and wevegotten it all to our site
Now its time to build!Sounds simple enoug
right? Well the con-
struction process canbe very taxing on ourenvironment. Largemachinery, wastewa-
ter, and lots of wastematerial are generate
from most constructioprojects. These waste
end up in local eco-systems, landlls andsometimes in the very
air you breathe.
T h e b i g I d e a s1. Raw Materials
Building materials start with a
raw material such as oil, sand or
limestone
2. Production
Raw materials are transformed
into building materials
3. Consumption and Use
Building materials are nally
used and consumed in the
construction process
I n v e s t i g a t i n g Y o u r S ch o o l s M a t e r i a l s
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Lets Take a Closer Look!l
W h e re to S t a r t?
OutsideWhat materials are used in the outside of your
building? Brick, glass, steel?
CaeteriaLook at all the materials used in your cafeteria
from ovens to dishwashers.
ClassroomsThink about all the materials used in your
classroom: computers, desks, chairs and
ooring.
Gymnasium/AuditoriumThink about what materials are used to make
the bleachers, chairs, ooring and windows.
LibraryConsider all of the materials you need to make
the shelving, tables, carpeting and other kindsof ooring.
Once you have started this list, turn to the next
section where were going to think about
replacements for these materials with ones
that might be better for your environment.
Building Use Now that we nally have a
building, our impact isnt over in fact, it usually neverends. Buildings use resources such as electricity, water,and heating fuel. Just like in the production process many
byproducts are created from the building wastewatercoming from bathrooms and sinks, air emissions like C02
coming from the use of electricity and sulfur and nitrogenoxides coming from the burning of fossil fuels to heat the
building.
Le t s In v es t iga te Y ou r
S c h o o l
Now i t s t i m e t o t ak e t h i s
in f o r m a t io n a n d u s e i t in y o u r o w n s ch o o l ! B e g in t o c r ea t e a
ca t a lo g o f m a t e r i a ls u s e d i n
y o u r s ch o o l. Es t im a t e w h a t t h e en v ir o n m e n t a l im p a c t s o f
t h e s e m a t e r i a ls ch o i ce s m ig h t
be . Use t he i n v e s t i ga t i onw o r k s h e et t o r eco r d y o u r
a n s w e rs a n d r e s u lt s .
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Materials: Large pieces of paper,compass, markers, tape measuresTime: 50-60 minutes
Procedure: In this activity studentswill learn how to make a oor plan
of their school and compare to a realblueprint. Obtain a blueprint of your
school from a janitor or schooladministrator. All schools are required
to have these available at all timesfor re code reasons. Lead adiscussion about architecture and
a general description of blueprints.
Ask what is their purpose and howarchitects create them. As an opening
activity, divide students into designteams of 3-4. Hand out materials
including measuring tapes, compassesand paper. To start, have students
create a oor plan of their classroom.
Students should rst measure all waand create a log of measurements.
Then using a ratio of 10:1 or 5:1 havstudents create a blueprint of the roo
on a large piece of paper.
Continue with this blueprintingprocess as long as necessary to get
a sense of the layout and overallsquare footage of the school. When
completed, handout ofcial blueprintfor students to compare. Note theactual square footage and compare
to estimates.
Material
R o o m b y R o o m : A S c h o o l B lu e p r i n t
Materials: clipboards, blank sheet of
paper, pencil, tracing paper, hand lensTime: 50-60 minutes
Procedure: Divide your students into4-5 teams with 3-4 students in each
group. Review some of the majormaterials you will nd in your school.
Discuss some of the ecologicalimpacts of these materials. Consider
some bioregional characteristics of
the school location, such as climate
and weather, land-type and use andproximity to other natural areas.
Explain to students that they are goingto be investigating the materials used
in the structure of their schoolbuilding via an on-site eld study. Us-ing the oor plans produced in the pre-
vious activity, have students exploredifferent areas of their school. Have a
chaperone guide 2 groupsoutside of the school while you guide
2 groups inside hallways, bathrooms
and other communal spaces. Of
course, encourage students to respeother classes going on. Encourage
students to make rubbings of materials they use.
Hand out hand lenses so they can ga closer look at some of the materia
Have students record the location antypes of materials they suspect they
are identifying.
M a t e r i a ls L i b r a r y !
Materials: calculators, scrap paperTime: 30-40 minutes
Procedure: Use this activity to uncov-
er the carbon footprint of some of themajor materials used in the infrastruc-
ture of your school building. Usingyour oor plans and estimates of how
much of certain materials are used,we can calculate an estimate of thecarbon footprint created by these ma-
terials. For this exercise concentrateon the three most common elements
found in a school: cement, wood and
steel. Using the formula and variables
below, have students calculate thecarbon footprint for each.Carbon Footprint = Material in SquareFeet x Carbon Footprint constant
Carbon Footprint Constants(From the Footprint Network)Cement/Concrete:
0.012 tons of C02/ft2
Wood: 0.002 tons of C02/ft2
Steel: 0.0092 tons of C02/ft2
If you cant nd the specic amounts
for each material, make estimates!
The important thing is that students
understand that building materials corespond to a certain footprint that cotributes to greenhouse gas emissionand consequently, climate change.
When nished, lead a discussion onwhat the impact of these footprints
may have on your region and state.
F o o t p r i n t i n g
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Worksheet
LInvestigationName: Date
Focus Area:
School Name:
Use this worksheet to record the re-sults you get after investigating the eco-impacts of the materials used in yourschool!
Bas ic In fo :
Blueprint:Draw a blueprint of one of the rooms you measured or of yourentire school!
Materials Archive:Write down a list of materials you identied throughoutyour school.
Footprint:Write down the resultsfrom calculating thecarbon footprint ofmaterials used in yourschool.
d a t a + S k e t ch es
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Green Building and ar
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