Alex Wilson Testifies Before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee

Alex Wilson, president of BuildingGreen, Inc. of Brattleboro, Vermont, testified before the Senate Environment and PublicWorks Committee today on high-performance schools. Wilson was invited by SenatorJames Jeffords of Vermont to suggest how the federal government could improvethe way school buildings are designed and constructed. He was one of threeexperts invited to testify, along with a representative of the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency.

Alex Wilson, president of BuildingGreen, Inc.of Brattleboro, Vermont, testified before the Senate Environment and PublicWorks Committee today on high-performance schools. Wilson was invited by SenatorJames Jeffords of Vermont to suggest how the federal government could improvethe way school buildings are designed and constructed. He was one of threeexperts invited to testify, along with a representative of the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency.

Wilson described a high-performance, green school as "one that improves thelearning environment while minimizing environmental impacts, saving energy, andreducing operating costs." He explained that high-performance schools rely on anintegrated, whole-building approach to design. This is a process in whichdifferent members of a design team work together-recognizing, for example, thatif better glazings and energy-efficient lighting systems are installed, the airconditioning system can be downsized.

After reviewing the benefits of high-performance schools-including improvedstudent performance, higher attendance rates, lower operating costs, and reducedenvironmental impacts-Wilson outlined a few recommendations to the Committee:

• Research. Wilson urged the Senators to fund research on the relationshipbetween academic performance and such factors as daylighting and indoor airquality. He urged increased support for basic building science research and thedevelopment of better HVAC and lighting packages for schools to minimize theneed for expensive customized engineering. Given the Committee's oversight ofEPA, he suggested that they consider the development of national protocols forquantifying hazardous emissions from building materials.
  
  
• Education and technology transfer. Rather than funding the development of newguidelines on the design and construction of high-performance schools, Wilsonsuggest funding to get these resources into the hands of those who need them.This is particularly important, he argued, in smaller states without strongstate programs.
  
  
• Flow-through support to schools. Wilson suggested that funding be provided tostate education departments to pay for computer modeling during design andcommissioning, two very important aspects of quality design and constructionthat are often hard for local school districts to afford.
  
  
• LEED for Schools. Finally, Wilson suggested funding for a special LEEDApplication Guide for Schools. The U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership inEnergy and Environmental Design (LEED) program is highly successful as a meansof third-party verification of a building's performance. But to make thisprocess more applicable to schools, a special Application Guide is needed.

"Schools are an investment in our country's future," Wilson told the Committee,and "high-performance schools can better serve our children's academicpotential, even while reducing taxpayer costs." He argued that federal supportat key leverage points is needed to ensure that a greater percentage of thethousands of new schools planned over the next several years will be green,high-performance buildings.

The other two experts testifying were Claire Barnette, founder and executivedirector of the Healthy Schools Network in Albany, New York, and Lois Gibbs, awell-known activist on school siting issues who directs the Center for Health,Environment, and Justice in Falls Church, Virginia. Senator Jeffords and SenatorHillary Rodham Clinton, who was also at the hearing, are both strong advocatesof healthy and high-performance schools. They are hoping to advance this agendain Congress during the next term.

Alex Wilson's complete testimony is available as a free download at http://www.buildinggreen.com/go/testimony.html

-30-