Schools, universities experience benefits of going green, finds McGraw-Hill Construction

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by Shane Henson — March 8, 2013—Schools and universities forging paths toward operating more sustainably and being environmentally friendly are experiencing positive results all around, according to a report recently released by McGraw-Hill Construction titled New and Retrofit Green Schools: The Cost Benefits and Influence of a Green School on its Occupants.

Both K—12 schools and universities are reporting significant benefits from their “green school” efforts—in improved child health, well-being and performance as well as teacher and staff satisfaction. These results are accompanied by reported financial benefits from green school activities, says McGraw-Hill Construction.

According to the study conducted to draft the report, nearly all K—12 school (91%) and university (89%) respondents report that green schools have improved the health and well-being of their students. Additionally, 70% of K-12 schools and 63% of university leaders report green efforts as raising test scores of their students.

Leaders also report other benefits from their green schools efforts:

  • A full 83% of K—12 and 85% of university leaders report increased faculty satisfaction as a result of teaching in a green school.
  • Nearly a third (32%) of K—12 school leaders report reduced student absenteeism.
  • Around half of K—12 (48%) and university leaders (56%) who increased access to natural light and views into their classrooms reported increased student engagement.
  • Another 44% of K—12 and 51% of university leaders who included improved acoustics in their green projects noticed improvement in student attentiveness as a result of those improvements.

The report also includes opinions from the design and construction community, and reports from their clients mirror the results from the schools and universities directly, says McGraw-Hill Construction. A full 85% of architects report a positive impact on health and well-being from their green school projects, and 85% of them are reflecting student mobility and health concerns into the design of their buildings.