by Brianna Crandall — April 21, 2014—On the heels of the 12th annual celebration of National Healthy Schools Day, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP) and the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) are releasing an updated version of the Northeast CHPS Criteria to guide construction and renovation of healthier, more productive, less costly schools. Schools designed according to NE-CHPS criteria reportedly benefit from a significant reduction in indoor pollutants that affect health, learning, and behavior.
These benefits obviously extend to faculty and staff as well as the whole student population, but particularly affect vulnerable populations such as the roughly one in 10 children who have asthma (according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] statistics). These students are uniquely vulnerable to air quality issues within their schools, and this vulnerability results in approximately 10.5 million missed school days each year. One way to mitigate these serious consequences is by building or renovating schools according to standards that emphasize superior indoor air quality (IAQ), low-toxicity building materials, and sustainable construction practices, says NEEP.
Based on the pioneering Collaborative for High Performance Schools’ school design guide, NE-CHPS was adapted with input from regional stakeholders to mirror the climate, building codes, and educational priorities of the Northeast. The latest release, NE-CHPS 3.0, was developed with input from architects, engineers, and state agencies throughout the region, and an extended public comment period.
“NE-CHPS schools are paving the way forward to the next generation of schools—schools that are healthy, energy efficient, and environmentally friendly,” said Carolyn Sarno, Senior Program Manager at NEEP and Vice Chair of the CHPS Board of Directors. “Using the school building itself as a teaching tool can help students understand the value of sustainable design, an understanding students carry with them into the broader community long after they’ve left the classroom.”
The improved standard—NE-CHPS 3.0—incorporates principles from the leading edge of sustainable building design and operation. Some of the most important revisions include:
- Improved acoustics requirements
- Crime prevention through environmental design
- Electric vehicle integration
- Use of the zero energy policy indicator (zEPI) scale
- Increased emphasis on benchmarking
- Greater occupant engagement focus
- Enhanced commissioning requirements
- District-level commitment to sustainability
Investing in a school construction or renovation process that incorporates the NE-CHPS Criteria will pay dividends far into the future, says NEEP. For example, the Profile School in Bethlehem, New Hampshire, renovated its facility according to an earlier version of the NE-CHPS criteria and attained a learning environment where all indoor spaces receive 100% outside air and 90% of the classrooms no longer require air conditioning. The resulting improved air quality and reduced operating costs will remain with the school long after the construction costs have been repaid, notes NEEP.
Annual energy costs in America’s primary and secondary schools are a staggering $12 billion, according to NEEP. According to EPA, if all new school construction and renovations went green today, energy savings alone could reach $20 billion over the next 10 years. A school designed to NE-CHPS guidelines can drastically reduce energy costs, claims the organization. For example, the Merrimack Valley High School in Penacook, NH renovated its school according to an earlier version of NE-CHPS and was able to reduce energy costs by 61%, largely due to building envelope improvements and the addition of a wood chip-powered hydronic heat distribution system.
The NE-CHPS 3.0 Criteria can be downloaded from CHPS or NEEP.
