Green Schools Update from Steve Muzzy

Green Apple Day of Service is almost here. The Green Schools Committee has compiled a list of registered projects to help volunteers engage with events in their communities. Use the RSVP link in the compiled list to learn more about the event and to register and lend your support. Remember, it's not too late to organize an event. Green Apple Day of Service projects don't need to happen on September 28th – there is flexibility in choosing a day. With the new school year set to begin, now is the time to coordinate a Green Apple project, please contact me for support. To help with funding, you may be interested in the Center for Green Schools Visa gift card give away to support Green Apple activities through their Green Apple Day of Service Facebook Contest.

On July 30th a number of Green School Committee members participated in the Department of Education's ‘Education Built to Last’ Facilities Best Practice Tour of Manchester Essex Regional Middle High School and Quincy High School, two MA Green Ribbon Award winners. For an overview of the tours and to learn more about these amazing green schools, head over to the USGBC MA blog. Green Ribbon Schools has teamed up with Green Apple Day of Service to outline a potential day of service project. Use the following link to learn more.


New Resource: U.S. Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools and the American Association of Community Colleges’ Sustainability Education and Economic Development (SEED) Center have released a new resource, Campus as a Living Lab: Using the Built Environment to Revitalize College Education. This guide is designed to help colleges that have greened their campuses, or are thinking about greening their campuses, to use those facilities as real-world teaching tools for students across an array of academic and technical programs.


Opportunity: Free USGBC membership for PreK-12 schools & districts. For a limited time, USGBC is offering schools and districts first time, one year free organizational membership. By becoming a USGBC member, schools and districts have the ability to connect to other member organizations and access a wide variety of resources and benefits.

Department of Education Visits Two Schools in Massachusetts for Their ‘Education Built to Last’ Facilities Best Practice Tour

Special Advisor to the Secretary Donald Yu and U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools Director Andrea Falken visited U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools in Massachusetts on Tuesday, July 30th, to see and discuss the ways school facilities can enhance the conditions for learning.  

A large group of government and state officials, community members, green building professionals, students, teachers, and green school advocates attended tours at Manchester Essex Regional Middle High School and Quincy High School to see how they are incorporating sustainability into the built environment and the educational experience of their school communities. More information about the Green Ribbon Awardees is found below. 

Manchester Essex Regional Middle High School

Manchester Essex Regional Middle High School, a Collaborative for High Performance Schools building, constructed with recycled materials and energy-efficient design principles, is home to a 650 gallon rainwater collection tank and over 100 donated plants and trees.  The school achieved a 90 percent reduction in waste through the installation of a state of the art Lucidomatic waste sorting system and the implementation of a printing limits program through PaperCut software.  Manchester Essex, which has reduced its heating per square foot by nearly 58 percent over three years, meets 5 percent of its energy needs through on-site solar panels.  The edible schoolyard is a community-building and educational tool that offers students and parents the opportunity to work with the garden during the summer to raise awareness about local food and organic gardening.

Manchester Essex Regional School Green Scholars and their mentor Eric Magers

Quincy High School  

At Quincy High School, a career and technical school, the building’s design allows for collaboration among AP biology and environmental science students and their peers who are pursuing Nursing or Applied Medical Technology specialties.  Quincy collaborated with the city’s planning department to participate in the USGBC Center for Green Schools Green Apple Day of Service, which provided real-world instruction about the importance of energy reduction and implemented a National Wildlife Federation Cool Schools Energy Audit.  The school’s STEM wing is home to a greenhouse, where students are actively involved in learning how to grow their own food.  Culinary students are responsible for front- and back-of-house service at the wildly popular President’s Café, where student-grown herbs are used in recipes.  The school was certified by the Massachusetts Collaborative for High Performing Schools in 2009 and EPA ENERGY STAR in 2008.  The school has continued its efforts by retro-commissioning the building to ensure that it performs as intended. Quincy High School was designed by USGBC MA Chapter sponsor SMMA.

QHS's 66Kw Solar Array

Green Schools Update (July)

by Steve Muzzy

Green Apple Day of Service is two months away and we are making good progress in Massachusetts. We currently have 9 projects registered, with many more in the works. Be sure to check out the current projects for ideas or to register to attend an event in your area. The Green Schools Committee continues to do a great job marketing this opportunity and has been coordinating a number of green school tours for the fall to coincide with Green Apple. If you'd like to coordinate a Green Apple project, please contact me for support.

Speaking of green building tours, on Tuesday July 30th, the US Department of Education's Facilities Best Practices Tour will be coming to Massachusetts to highlight Green Ribbon Award winners Manchester-Essex Middle/High School and Quincy High School. If you'd like to attend, email me to be added to the list and to receive a detailed agenda.

If you have vacation planned for Washington, D.C. this summer be sure to check out the National Building Museum's  Green Schools Exhibit. Littleton, MA based Triumph Modular, a past supporter of the Chapter, has partnered with Perkins + Will to design Sprout Space, a healthy, high performance modular classroom. Sprout Space is currently on display at the National Building Museum and is a terrific example of design with education in mind.

Finally, the Green Schools Committee is seeking volunteers. We have a number of exciting projects to work on. Please contact me or Green School Committee Chair, Kathy Arthur Tyler to be added to the distribution list. Our calls are scheduled for the second Thursday of every month from 8-9AM.  

Opportunity: Free USGBC membership for PreK-12 schools & districts

For a limited time, USGBC is offering schools and districts first time,  one year free organizational membership. By becoming a USGBC member, schools and districts have the ability to connect to other member organizations and access a wide variety of resources and benefits. 

(Excerpted from USGBC MA's July 2013 Newsletter)

Green Schools Update From Steve Muzzy

I've just returned from the Mid-Year Meeting and Green Schools Symposium where I got to meet and learn from sixty other Green Schools peers from across the country. The timing could not have been better as we begin to ramp up our own Green Schools program. Collectively, we are all focused on the 2nd Annual Green Apple Day of Service, with the goal of registering 2500 service projects globally, doubling the number from last year. The MA Chapter Green Schools Committee has been doing outreach and we have a number of big projects in the works - stay tuned for updates and please contact me if you have an idea for a project. 

Another focus of the Symposium was on expanding the Coalition for Green Schools from its current national formation to multiple statewide coalitions. Later this year, the MA Chapter will pilot a Green Schools Coalition and will work closely with the Center for Green Schools to form and facilitate a diverse group of organizations committed to providing every child in America with a green school. 

Finally the Mid-Year Meeting brought together a number of USGBC communities that until now have been operating in isolation of each other. For one day  Green Schools folks, Emerging Professionals, USGBC Student Groups, and the Community Green program were put together and organized by US regions. This provided an opportunity to connect the dots, network, and identify synergies to support each others goals. For MA, some early discussions have shown an opportunity for the Green Schools and Emerging Professional Committees to work together to coordinate more Student Chapters across the state. Thus providing exposure to potential future emerging professionals as well as tying into existing campus sustainability programs that may be able to support such efforts as Green Apple Day of Service.

I am very impressed with USGBC's efforts to support Chapters and build its networks' capacity to advance its mission. The opportunity to connect with other Green Schoolers to share successes, challenges, and resources is invaluable - and will no doubt help the MA Chapter build a comprehensive and successful Green Schools Program.  

Green Apple Day of Service

The USGBC's Center for Green Schools is once again promoting Green Apple Day of Service to advance healthy, sustainable schools! 

 

The inaugural Green Apple Day of Service held on September 29, 2012 had more than 1,250 service projects in 49 countries. The second Green Apple Day of Service will be held September 28, 2013 - advocates around the world, including students, teachers, parents, business owners and more will come together in support of healthy, sustainable schools by participating in local service projects.

The Green Schools Committee of USGBC MA Chapter is aiming to have more than 50 projects registered across the state in 2013. Mygreenapple.org has put together a terrific list of resources to describe and support organizing a day of service - and we have pulled the following list of resources to help you help us spread the word:

• About the Green Apple Day of Service

A one-page information sheet describing the Green Apple Day of Service.

• 2013 Green Apple Day of Service Webcasts

Free 20-minute-or-less webcasts that will introduce you to project ideas, volunteer recruitment tips, fundraising ideas and more.

• Step by Step Toolkit for Organizing a Day of Service Project

The Project Captain Toolkit covers how to get a Day of Service project started, establishing project goals, getting volunteers and organizing your project.

If you have questions or if your company is looking to partner with a local school to execute a project, please let us know - we are happy to help!

Green Schools Update (May)

by Steve Muzzy

I've been at the Chapter for nearly three weeks and have been getting up to speed with operations and meeting members of the Chapter network. It is inspiring to learn about all the activities the Chapter is involved in to advance green building. As Grey mentioned last month as the Green Schools Program Manager I will be focusing on the following activities:

• Establishing & Coordinating a Multi-Disciplinary, Massachusetts “Green School Building Coalition”
• Expanding the LEED Education & Practice Program
• Developing & Managing The Green Schools Project Matching Service

I will also be developing a Green Schools webpage on the Chapter website that will include resources to support green building retrofits and construction and highlight completed and current school projects. It will also provide data on the number of LEED projects at K-12 and higher education campuses across the State.

In the meantime, please feel free to contact me with questions or resources to share. Finally, I’d like to pass along some recent reports that may be of interest - highlighting how the education sector is supporting and advancing green building. 

New & Retrofit Green Schools: The Cost Benefits & Influence of a Green School on its Occupants

Published by McGraw-Hill Construction, this report reveals feedback from K-12 and higher education occupants and green school design and construction professionals, resulting in data and intelligence on the green education market and how it will evolve over time.

The Green Schools Investment Guide for Healthy, Efficient & Inspiring Learning Spaces 

From the Center for Green Schools, a free downloadable resource for K-12 schools and communities that demonstrates how schools can implement healthy and resource-efficient building improvements.

State of Our Schools 2013 Report

From the Center for Green Schools and their partners the “State of Our Schools” report estimates that it will take approximately $271 billion to bring public K-12 school buildings up to working order and comply with laws. These preliminary findings are a call for an updated survey on the condition of America’s schools.

(Excerpted from USGBC MA's May 2013 Newsletter)

Welcome Stephen Muzzy to the USGBC MA Chapter as our new "Green Schools Program Manager"

As recently announced at our Earth Day Celebration, our advocacy work for green buildings has recently become amplified. The Chapter thanks the USGBC for supporting the position with a strategic investment grant. Stephen Muzzy will start in early May, focusing on three things:

• Facilitating a Green School Buildings coalition 
• Implementing LEED Study Groups 
• Creating a LEED Project Assistance Matching Service 

Steve comes to the Chapter having served for 5 years as a program manger at Second Nature, a campus sustainability consulting organization. He most recently has managed the American Colleges & Universities Presidents' Climate Challenge program, helping campuses implement carbon mitigation strategies. He brings green campus experience, program design & delivery skills, and an extensive network at higher ed institutions in Massachusetts.

You are welcome to attend a Green Schools Committee meeting on 5/9/13 where we will be welcoming Steve and making introductions. We are looking forward to promoting green buildings on campuses throughout Massachusetts in the coming months and years!

(Excerpted from USGBC MA's April 2013 Newsletter)