Best Practices

Keep communications open between the teachers and the design team. Their collaborative efforts can make this credit a success. It is a good idea to have the design team track items that might be good to incorporate in the school’s sustainability curriculum, in case they have ideas that the teachers can use. 

The teachers need to be sure that there is a clear correlation between the curriculum and the sustainability strategies incorporated in the building. 

This credit is ultimately about education, not just about the function and design of the building. Some schools may have flashy green features that are obvious and easy to teach, but even less state-of-the-art buildings can provide students with a good learning experience. 

This credit does not focus on improving test scores or health, but it can be helpful to discuss with faculty and staff (or incorporate into the curriculum) the benefits a green building can have on student performance and health. 

Discuss the potential for your project to attempt EAc5: Measurement and Verification, which could provide a good way for students to have access to energy and water consumption data. Through their studies, they may even determine ways they can help to improve their building’s performance. This is not required for credit compliance, but it can be a great teaching tool. If your school will not be attempting EAc5, consider having students evaluate the school’s Energy Star score through Portfolio Manager.

The design team can aid teachers in developing the curriculum by providing resources for existing environmental and sustainability lesson plans, and by communicating in detail about the building’s high-performance design features. 

Engage a commissioning authority as part of EAc2: Enhanced Commissioning.

The operational performance of the base building affects the performance of the tenant space.

If your project is installing a Building Management System (BMS), consider scheduling or occupancy sensors that reduce air flow and setback the air-conditioning temperature in unoccupied spaces. 

Consider space programming in collaboration with mechanical system zoning. You may want to link similar functions together for mechanical zoning reasons. A floor with an open-plan office space that will only be occupied in the daytime can be controlled by one zone that allows for a reasonable degree of efficiency. On the other hand, if that open-plan office floor also has enclosed conference rooms and private offices, a single zone won’t allow users to adjust temperature and airflow to the enclosed rooms when they are unoccupied, so energy will be wasted.