Grow more 'green' schoolhouses

Cincinnati Enquirer
Editorials
January 2, 2006

A new "green" middle school building opening Tuesday in Kenton County has raised the bar for this region in "high-performance" design.

Twenhofel's $16 million wonder not only incorporates energy-saving principles into almost every feature of the 111,000-square-foot school, but it makes the building itself a learning experience for students.

Some Cincinnati schools also are climbing aboard the "green building" movement, to the delight of students, teachers, taxpayers and conservationists. It's a smart investment that school boards should wrap their arms around, even if they aren't tree-huggers.

We've known for some time that cheerful interior colors and plentiful natural light can change the whole mood at a school and even help raise test scores. A 1999 California study showed students with the most classroom daylight advanced 20 percent faster on math tests and 26 percent faster on reading scores than those with the least daylight.

Twenhofel makes maximum use of daylight with its north-south alignment and strategically placed windows and classrooms. Light sensors in each room automatically adjust artificial lighting as needed.

But there's much more. About 200 solar panels convert sunlight into electricity to power the science labs. A plasma screen will show students the school's energy usage and other energy "vital statistics" for the building. A geothermal heating and cooling system using 250 wells and heat pumps is expected to cut the school's energy consumption by at least 30 percent. Another system will harvest rainwater from the roof and recycle it through low-flow toilets and urinals.

Environmentally friendly materials were used in construction, and many were bought from vendors within a 500-mile radius to conserve fuel. Robert E. Hayes and Associates of Fort Mitchell were the architects.

Kenton County's new Caywood Elementary School, which opened in August on Turkeyfoot Road, was Kentucky's first high-performance school building, but Twenhofel's top-to-bottom "green" design and its use as a teaching tool will make it the state's first school certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Cincinnati Public Schools is drawing up its own "green building" guidelines for architects and designers to use in CPS' $1 billion school building program. Up to now, "green" principles have been advocated mostly at the school level. Pleasant Ridge School's planning team pushed hard for energy efficiency and environmentally sensitive design for its new building.

Winton Montessori teacher Penny Greenler, one of four Cincinnati teachers with a $5,000 grant from the Earth Day Network, plans to use hers for a pilot project in which students outside the regular classroom will help design an environmentally friendly school.