Green Schools Toolkit: Reduce Your Footprint

Click on a topic below to skip to that category:

Buildings Design & Performance  •   Energy Conservation  •   Energy Conservation: IT Policy
Energy Efficiency: General  •  Energy Efficiency: Lighting  •   Energy Efficiency: HVAC
Renewable Energy •  Calculators and Registries •  Food Services •  Green Cleaning
Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) •  Site and Landscaping/O&M •  Water Conservation: Outdoors
Water Conservation: Indoors •  Transportation • Waste & Recycling •  Procurement
Financing Your Green School

Buildings Design & Performance

• Green construction policy [future renovation/construction to meet LEED Silver or equivalent]
• LEED certified building(s)
• New and existing buildings heading toward LEED certification
• Green roof / Cool roof
• Recycled or locally sourced materials

Energy Conservation

• Limit use of classroom appliances
• Use signage to encourage efficient use of lighting and/or computers
• Use air conditioning and heating efficiently
• Thermostat set to 68 winter and 74 summer. Every degree up or down increases energy use 2-3%.
• Water heater set no higher than 120 degrees
• Weatherize: airlock doors, install new windows, etc
• Use a night-time/unoccupied mode temperature setting to save energy when not present
• Establish hours of operation for lighting in classrooms
• Conduct a lighting illumination survey and consider turning some lights off

Energy Conservation: IT Policy

• Set computers to sleep when not in use, turn off at night
• Employ software to automatically turn off computers at night and reboot them in the morning
• Set monitors to use the minimum amount of power when they are inactive or shut down
• Use Server Virtualization or web-based Software-As-A-Service (SAAS) versus running applications on their own equipment in an energy intensive server or computer room
• Is your IT Server Room over-cooled? Most engineering societies recommend a range between 68 degrees Fahrenheit to 80 degrees Fahrenheit for temperature, and 40% to 55% relative humidity. If the space is constantly cooled at the lower temperature, you are wasting energy with no assured increase in computer performance, mean-run-to-failure or efficiency

Energy Efficiency: General

• Commission new building or re-commissioned exiting buildings
• Develop a school-wide or district-wide energy management plan
• Install high efficiency transformers to reduce source and site energy loss  
• Invested in real-time energy metering or building energy management systems
• Require Energy Star appliances
• Increase power factor & lower demand [management] with capacitor banks
• Enroll in a Demand Side Management (DSM) program if available from your utility

Energy Efficiency: Lighting

• Swap incandescent bulbs for CFLs
• Install high efficiency light fixtures with T-8 bulbs
• Install lighting controls (occupancy sensors, daylight dimmers)
• Reduce energy through daylighting
• Reduce light pollution by minimizing nighttime lighting
• Use daylight and window shades as both lighting and temperature controls

Energy Efficiency: HVAC

• Conduct regular maintenance on HVAC system (chiller, replace filters, dampers, etc.)
• Conduct regular maintenance on boiler/heating system (burner, air-fuel ratio, replace filters, etc.)
• Install and/or maintain outdoor air economizer cycle (100% outdoor air when temperature is right)
• Install high efficiency new chillers
• Install variable speed & high-efficiency fans & pumps
• Install programmable thermostats
• Install high efficiency boiler; replace boiler control panels
• Convert to dual fuel boilers - oil or gas fuels
• Establish hours for operation for heating and air-conditioning equipment
• Negotiate with your local utility for "demand-response" utilization

Return to the beginning of the Reduce Your Footprint section.