It is being increasingly understood that the progress towards creating a greener society that endeavors to restrict its exploitation of natural resources cannot be complete without introducing green technology at the most fundamental level — Schools. Why?
Once the school environment endorses a green way of existence, the benefits of living in an eco-friendly way are better communicated. Students, enlisted in schools or who will graduate in the near future, would be the core of the society that would need to adapt to more extensive green technologies. Thus, a greener school campus is preparing an entire future generation that will be more perceptive towards a green lifestyle.
There have been many initiatives taken by state and federal governments in this regard. In fact, a trend has emerged across the globe, wherein schools that accomplish creation of campuses that are able to achieve certain energy-saving figures and follow environmental-design recommendations, are awarded points and financial grants. Some of the common features used during the evaluation of green technology in a school campus are:
- Amount of natural ventilation and daylight allowed in school building interiors to reduce energy consumption
- Utilization of recyclable building materials
Ex: Use of eco-friendly and sustainable structural material like asphalt for school courtyards and recycling of construction-related and maintenance-created waste materials
- Steps taken to directly reduce electrical energy consumption such as use of solar panels/lamps and use of sunlight reflectors during day-time
- Landscaping to provide more shaded areas and decrease the use of electrically-powered cooling appliances
- Recycling of water used on the school campus to help conserve water usage
Mutually Beneficial — Integrating green technology eventually leads to creation of more sustainable energy-saving practices. Schools have a huge financial benefit from adhering to green technology, as it helps to reduce the running/maintenance costs of a school campus. So, using eco-friendly technologies is of mutual benefit to both the school administrators and the environment. Thus, the perception of incorporating green technology being economically-unfeasible is absolutely false.
Note: most schools that have adopted more Green functionalities have noticed one common trend — the initial costs that are borne to introduce these eco-friendly measures are soon outweighed by the benefits that begin to surface rather immediately.
- Solar shades can be installed in classrooms — this helps to restrict the rise in temperatures due to solar heat by reducing the glare, which helps to reduce artificial cooling needs
- Using Occupancy Sensors— they help to ensure that artificial lights are , automatically switched-off when the classrooms are not occupied
- Caulking and re-buffering of school doors/windows — this makes the school interiors more weather-resistant and ensures that the effectiveness of artificial heating/ventilating resources is maximized
- Ensuring routine maintenance practices such as creation of weekly reports to evaluate which part of the school building is unable to keep-up with the energy-saving methodologies
- Fluorescent lamps and CFL lighting systems can be used to provide equally high wattage but by using comparatively lesser amount of electrical energy
- Use of radiant barriers for school water heaters — this simple eco-green fitting insulates the water tank so that the water inside remains hot for a longer period of time
- Developing rainwater harvesting in-and-around the school campus to use this recyclable resource for non-drinking purposes
Switching over to green technology doesn't have to be a sudden and unnerving step for school authorities. ‘Being Green’ should be understood as a long-term commitment that solves the purpose of creating a greener and sustainable infrastructure. Many schools have already started displaying figures of the amount of money they have saved in a calendar year by adopting practical, greener methods. Schools that are new to ‘Being Green’ should seek the help of such successful models to establish a list of measures that are most appropriate for their respective campuses.