A homemade video graphically displayed a rural Wisconsin school district's cramped and deteriorating condition. Voters approved a 5.5 million dollar plan to expand and modernize the existing 3-story building that links the elementary school and high school. School officials believe the grassroots video helped convince voters in favor of the…

After 20 years of inadequate heating and cooling, an Indiana school district took advantage of a 1994 state law that allows school districts to bypass the "low-bidder wins" restriction. The district established a guaranteed energy-saving contract for a climate-control-improvements package to retrofit the junior-senior high school. (MLF)

The School Building Authority (SBA) of West Virginia is responsible for evaluating the state's school buildings, selecting capital outlay projects, and helping fund renovation and new building projects. The SBA has strict guidelines and criteria to help the state's 55 counties evaluate the condition of their school buildings. (MLF)

The community of Crawfordsville (Indiana) debated for more than seven years over whether to renovate the existing high school, built in 1910, or construct a new building on a new site. Factors of cost, space availability, and energy efficiency entered into the decision in favor of a new facility. (MLF)

Universities are redesigning student centers to include more retail areas. The recently expanded and renovated University Center at the University of California-Santa Barbara boasts mall-like stores and restaurants. The university project team reviewed all space designs by outside vendors, including floor plans, graphics, and exterior finishes, to…

Former industrial arts classrooms in Algonac, Maine, now rely on technology, particularly computers, to teach marketplace-oriented skills. The changes began with one-time-only grants earmarked for development of new high-tech shop space. The high-tech push at the middle school was immediately felt at the district's high school and four elementary…