Schools certified under the LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] certification support educational programs are the beacons to sustain our Earth. Green schools are a mechanism for learning and their existence is pure example for the future of school facility planning. The purpose of this article is to discuss the various approaches…

For 20 years, the author has promoted constructing today's schools with the future in mind, yet as many school districts begin planning for the year 2050, he is starting to think this foresight/forethought might actually be a distracting course of action. Some districts may try to plan so far into the future that they neglect the present. But,…

Purpose--The purpose of this paper is to offer an example, for, school administrators and planners, of the cohesiveness of community policies and school design and planning endeavors during the 1980s in Arizona, USA. Design/methodology/approach--The paper reports the results of a qualitative, discourse analysis involving images of the exterior and…

Student affairs professionals can play a more prominent role in campus internationalization efforts. Unfortunately, they do not often view themselves as having the necessary knowledge, understanding, and tools to engage with international education matters, much less facilitate internationalization experiences on behalf of students. By rethinking…

Sustainability is the promotion of high performance, healthful, energy-efficient, and environmentally stable buildings. Buildings intended for sustainable certification must meet guidelines developed by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) of the U.S. Green Building Council. The problem is that LEED certification often fails to…

California Community Colleges are facing increased accountability while at the same time experiencing reduced and uncertain state funding. When resources are not properly allocated there is waste, public criticism, and ultimately increased oversight. A review of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) sanction letters…

When trying to reach their sustainability goals, schools and school districts often run into obstacles, including financing, training, and implementation tools. Last fall, the U.S. Green Building Council-Georgia (USGBC-Georgia) launched its High Performance, Healthy Schools (HPHS) Program to help Georgia schools overcome those obstacles. By…

Even as technology and globalization are changing the way one lives and views the world, colleges and universities have become increasingly interested in preserving historic campus buildings and sites. Heritage has become more important to students, faculty, and staff, as well as to alumni, who have often been its prime supporters. This article…

With detailed information about the costs and benefits of potential green investments, educational facilities can effectively evaluate which initiatives will ultimately provide the greatest results over the short and long term. Based on its overall goals, every school, college, or university will have different values and therefore different…

The Seaford School District, Seaford, Delaware, determined that a component of their "reinvention" of Seaford High School would be the creation of a New Tech Academy, affiliated with the New Tech Network and housed in an addition to that building. The New Tech Network, headquartered in Napa, California, is a rapidly growing association…

As educators consider designing excellent spaces for education, it is helpful to take a broader look and talk about their approach to design the questions they need to ask. Rather than talk about specific designs of school buildings, the author suggests that they should refocus their vision and look at how ideas of citizenship, the home and…

When one thinks of 21st century schools, one thinks of geometric modern architecture, sustainable building materials, and high-tech modular classrooms. It's rare, though, that a district has the space or the money to build that school from the ground up. Instead, the challenge for most is the transformation of the 20th century architecture to…

After spending $133-million to build a new award-winning technological gem of a power plant, officials at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst are expecting their fuel bills to rise by $7-million a year. And yet they are very proud of the accomplishment. The reasons for the higher energy costs involve a complicated mix of technology,…

Almost 73 percent of construction in 2009 was of new school buildings. New school buildings accounted for less than 60 percent of construction spending in 2010, suggesting a shift to using less abundant construction dollars to upgrade and add to existing buildings. While overall construction fell more than $1.8 billion in 2010, spending on…

In 2007 the Portuguese government launched a major school modernisation programme, and has taken steps to ensure the long-term sustainability of facilities. A specially created state-owned company, Parque Escolar (PE) has already completed 104 schools; 70 are work-in-progress and an additional 39 are under design or tender. Parque Escolar is…