Consider including a webcam to document construction activities for future use in a classroom, or using the energy model and building plans as teaching tools. 

Make sure that the curriculum covers ten hours for every full-time student. For example, if you have a middle school with grades 6–8, you might have one lesson plan for each grade. For example: 

If there is an existing environmental portion of a class, developing and incorporating the high-performance building into that curriculum may not be that time-consuming or challenging. However, if there is no foundation to start from, teachers may find this a very time-intensive task.

The teachers finalize the sustainability curriculum.

You can create a demonstration lab that compares the energy consumption of different light fixtures, such as typical incandescent, halogen, and compact fluorescent. Make sure that the fixtures used in the school are demonstrated too, so that students can understand what’s going on in their building. 

You may want to include a building management system that automatically tracks energy and water data. However, you can attain trending data even without an automated system. Consider providing first-order measurement systems that track or spot-meter energy and water use. You don’t need fancy tools to keep students interested—inexpensive temperature sensors are a great way to learn about heat transfer and energy consumption. 

Consider holding at least one meeting at which the design team and the teachers can discuss the process of design, and the teachers can gain a better understanding of the building. 

Consider incorporating the following LEED credits in to your school as a teaching tool curriculum:

SSc7.1: Heat Island Effect—Nonroof – It is always fun to play with heat guns, you can have the students measure the temperature differences between concrete, asphalt, shaded concrete and shaded asphalt. 

SSc7.2: Heat Island Effect—Roof – If your school has a green roof, have the students monitor the difference in air temperature between the green roof portion and the other roofing material.

The design team works with school administrators and teachers to determine features of the building that are important for students to learn about and to discuss additional features that could aid in students’ ability to learn about sustainability. 

When designing the curriculum, be aware that it needs to be approved by school administrators and meet local or state standards. This is typically standard procedure for schools, but changing a curriculum can be a challenging, political, and sometimes long process.