Why should schools invest in clean energy technologies?
#1 Our kids’ health, well-being, and education are at stake.
Unprecedented heat and a changing climate is a triple-threat crisis for our children, especially our most vulnerable.
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To learn more about how extreme heat, poor air quality, flooding, infectious diseases and changes in seasonality impact children’s health and well-being, see Climate Change and Children’s Health Report from the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Read about how environmental exposures in school buildings can impact student health, thinking and performance in Schools for Health: Foundations for Student Success.
#2 Equipping our schools for climate-resilience benefits students, their families, and our communities.
The investments we make in climate-adaptive school infrastructure both safeguard children’s health and are essential investments in student learning and achievement.
Our school buildings serve as adaptive resources for our communities that:
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To learn more about how school facilities can keep children and communities safe, read Invest in Resilient Public School Infrastructure from the BASIC Coalition.
For evidence based recommendations that center resilience in schools, check out
Climate-Resilient California Schools: A Call to Action from Stanford, UC Berkeley, Ten Strands, and UndauntedK12.
To learn more about the federal resources to support resilience and adaptation, review FEMA’s Resources for Climate Resilience.
#3 Clean energy technologies are often more cost-effective.
The total lifetime cost of ownership for clean energy systems can yield cost savings that can be reinvested across other district priorities including teaching and learning.
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See the White House website to learn more about the Direct Pay provisions that will enable schools to defray the cost of installing clean energy technologies.
Research from the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab which finds that zero energy buildings can now be designed and built on conventional school budgets.
CJNRC and UndauntedK12 summarize new evidence from across the country with important message: Building and renovating schools to achieve net-zero is the affordable option.
#4 We need to decrease emissions to stop making the problem worse.
Emissions from school infrastructure contribute to accelerating our climate crises. Our young people need us (and are asking us to partner with them) to dramatically decrease emissions and interrupt systems that rely on fossil fuels.
RESOURCES
The New Buildings Institute provides a roadmap and toolkit for school building decision-makers on Getting to Zero Emissions in Schools.
Check out the Department of Energy's Better Buildings Initiative for more information on zero energy schools.
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