Green schools offer benefits for district budgets, students

Waterless urinals. Geothermal cooling systems. Photovoltaic solar panels.

Classrooms are slowly going green, prodded by rising energy bills, public health concerns and a general desire to adopt eco-friendly principles. Green schools cost a little more to build -- generally 1%-2% extra -- but promise payback through lower utility bills and, some studies suggest, better student achievement.

"A school district that might have been thinking, 'I can't afford to build a green school' is now saying, 'I can't afford not to,' " said Rachel Gutter, schools sector manager for the U.S. Green Building Council, which certifies school construction projects based on environmental criteria.

Several states, including Hawaii, Florida and New Jersey, require that new school buildings be more energy-efficient, reduce water usage and recycle more. In June, the U.S. House of Representatives sent a bill to the Senate requiring schools built with federal money to incorporate green elements.

Nearly 100 public and private U.S. schools have been certified by the U.S. Green Building Council since 2000; another 800 are seeking certification.

Studies in 1999 and 2003 by the Heschong Mahone Group, a California consulting firm that promotes energy-efficient design, found that children generally fared better on math and reading tests in schools where natural light was more prevalent, because it improved student focus and achievement.

"Most of the time, we don't even turn on the lights in my classroom because there's so much light from the windows," said Lily Kamali, 11, a fifth-grader who attends Great Seneca Creek Elementary School in Germantown, Md. The school was the first in Maryland certified by the green council.

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