New Green Schools Program and Certification Announced at Learn Green

On November 11^th the Learn Green Schools Conference and Expo and Lessons Learned Workshop took place at the Dreyfoos School of The Arts, and this year the event included people from all over the state of Florida.  Well over 900 people attended the event!  In attendance were 90 presenters, 88 exhibitors in addition to administrators, teachers, vendors, architects, engineers and others within the construction industry.  The Presenting Sponsor for the event was the Solid Waste Authority, and food was provided by the Whole Foods Market of Wellington.  Susan Toth, the Director of Education for the Pine Jog Environmental Education Center and Joseph Sanches, the Chief of the Division of Support Operations for the School District of Palm Beach County also spoke at the opening ceremonies and did a wonderful job of coordinating the entire event along with a host of volunteers. 

One of the highlights of the day was the keynote speech presented by Rachel Gutter, the Director of the Center for Green Schools at the USGBC (US Green Building Council), who delivered a motivational and inspirational speech with the goal of putting every student into a green school within our generation.  Rachel would like to see a “Blueprint to a billion”, and she feels we need a "nuclear" reaction in order to green every school in this generation.  Rachel feels there is something in the green schools movement that will appeal to everyone, and she feels green schools are directly related to the, “Triple Bottom Line”; People, Planet and Prosperity.  Green schools save people, save the planet and help make us prosper in a variety of different ways. 

Rachel announced some exciting developments regarding green schools initiatives in 2012:

·         The U.S. Department of Education will initiate the Green Ribbon Schools Program, a contest that will recognize schools that save energy, reduce costs, and feature environmentally sustainable learning spaces, as well as protect health, foster wellness, and impact effective environmental education.  The Green Ribbon award will acknowledge high levels of achievement in three areas: 1) environmental impact and energy efficiency; 2) healthy environment; and 3) environmental literacy.  Florida has officially signed on as a state education system to be a part of this program.  **For a direct link to find more information please see the "Links" tab.

There will be a Green Classroom Professional Certification Program, made available by the USGBC in conjunction with the GBCI (Green Building Construction Institute) in 2012.  In accordance with each mission statements, the program encourages sustainable practices in classrooms.

Green classroom professionals advocate for healthier environments in which to work and teach. With the Green Classroom Professional Certificate, the classroom will turn into a living laboratory, creating foundational awareness of greener lifestyles, energy savings, and environmental health in students.

The program is designed to provide pre-K-12 teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators with the knowledge and skills to:

·         Identify features that support or impede environmentally healthy and sustainable learning spaces

·         Recognize, adopt, and implement practices that promote health among students and school occupants

In Rachel’s speech she mentioned some fascinating statistics;

·        There are over 133,000 K-12 Schools in the United States, and over 4,300 colleges and universities.

·         Over 15,000 of those educational facilities have unbreathable air

·         Asthma is the leading cause absenteeism in the United Sates schools, and green schools have been proven to reduce the incidence of asthma

·         Millions of dollars are saved when schools are built to green /LEED standards due to energy cost savings through energy management

Presentations made throughout the day featured informative sessions regarding all areas of school sustainability including; Community Partnerships, Curriculum Integration, Design and Construction, Innovative Programs and Practices, School Grounds Enhancement, and School Sustainability.  The day was topped off by a fun filled evening tour of Citiplace. 

Join us at the LEARN GREEN Event Next Friday November 11th!

Pine Jog Environmental Education Center/Florida Atlantic University and the School District of Palm Beach County invite you to the 3rd Annual Learn Green: A Green Schools Conference & Expo

When?  November 11, 2011 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Where?  Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts - 501 S. Sapodilla Avenue, West Palm Beach, FL 33401

A variety of breakout sessions will take place throughout the day including: School Grounds Enhancement, School Sustainability (Energy, Water, Waste), Youth Voices, 2011 Lessons Learned and Best Practices Workshop, School Design and Construction, Exhibit Hall with 100+ exhibitors, Walking and bus tours and much more…

To register and for more information visit:

www.ourgreenschools.com/learngreenconference

Click Here to view the event flyer: 

http://www.ourgreenschools.com/media/2011/09/learn-green-conference-and-expo-20111.jpg

SAGE Dining Organic Garden - Students Growing Strong

You may think planting an organic garden is just about eating vegetables that are grown and nurtured without the use of pesticides.  Here in our link section is a Vimeo link to a video about the green garden at the Pine Crest School Boca Raton Campus.  The Lower School (Pre-K-Grade 5) Building was built a couple of years ago and has been certified LEED Gold.  The architects created a green garden and cisterns in the design plan for the school.  As you can see their food director has taken it to a new level!  See how planting and growing an organic garden on YOUR school campus can be used as a teaching tool and integrated into your school’s curriculum!

How Can An Older School Go Green and What is LEED Anyway?

A Comment I have heard many people make is, “How How can I help my school go "green" if it was not build according to the LEED process?  Additionally when I am discussing green school issues I'm often asked to explain the meaning of the acronym, “LEED”.  LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, an internationally recognized green building certification System.  There are four different levels of LEED certification:  LEED Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum.  In May of 2008 the School District of Palm Beach County decided to build all new schools to the LEED Silver standard as a minimum guideline.  Many people are unaware of the standard, LEED EB (OM), which stands for LEED for Existing Buildings (Operations & Maintenance).  Even if your school was not built according to LEED standards and is an older school, going "green" is not only possible, it's very easy to take the first steps!  As of last year the School District of Palm Beach has registered the first K-12 school in the state for LEED EB accreditation.  Your school may not have been built according to LEED standards; nonetheless, you can take many steps towards helping your school go "green".  Remember the first steps towards going "green" are; Reduce, Re-Use, and Recycle!

Contact Us For Palm Beach County Green Schools Information

As volunteer members of the USGBC Green Schools Committee we are here to help!  Please send us an email (see field below) and let us know how we can help your school go green.  We can be a Mentor to your school and guide you by suggesting both starting steps towards going green as well as advanced methodologies, depending upon how far along your school is in the process.  Whether you are in the beginning process of recycling efforts, planting a butterfly garden, or finding ways to conserve energy we can help.  

Welcome to our new blog!  It is our goal to provide support to schools that are trying to go “green”.  This blog has been posted by members of the USGBC (US Green Building Council) Palm Beach Green Schools Committee in an effort to assist school administrators, teachers, and students in their efforts to make schools an environmentally responsible and healthy place to work and learn. 

By transforming the physical environment of a learning institution, we have the ability to impact students, teachers and communities and assist schools in saving money by saving energy and helping schools impart ecological responsibility to their students. 

We are here to provide free assistance to assist schools in reaching their green goals.  For any schools that have not yet engaged in the process of “going green” we wanted to announce our presence publicly that we are available as volunteers to help you in your quest.  We can also point schools in the direction of available green school grants.

In future blog posts you will find ways to participate connect with us, announcements of green school events and you will find a wide variety of free resources at your fingertips!