Few people truly recognize the influence of modern transportation on society. In the United States, that includes the influence of highways that allow the citizenry to travel freely, the strength of the economy, and the country's national security. In all cases, the geography of the United States influenced the evolution of transportation and…

Building energy-efficient school facilities is not just about being "green." It is about providing high-performance facilities that are safe, healthy, and conducive to learning. It is also about building facilities that are cost-effective from their inception and in the long term. Many school districts are working under ever-tightening…

Construction spending by education institutions topped $36 billion in 2006. While strong by historical standards, it represents the third consecutive year that total spending on construction dropped from the year before. According to the "American School & University" 33rd annual Official Education Construction Report, total spending on new,…

Southern Methodist University has released the terms of its agreement with the George W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation to house the president's official library and museum. To some faculty members, the most troubling element of the project is a conservative policy institute that will be affiliated with the library and museum. Unlike similar…

Residence hall construction continues to be a priority for colleges and universities. With enrollments on the upswing, higher-education institutions are spending more and building larger facilities to entice students to live on campus. This article presents the findings of "American School & University's" 17th annual Residence Hall Construction…

People look at one billion dollars in one of two ways: if it is the result of the long, hard effort of years of fundraising, they rejoice; if it signifies an astronomical budget deficit, they cringe. How, then, should people respond as a community to reaching the $1 billion mark ($1,242,436,438, to be exact) in this year's spending for public…

Appropriate technology (the process most appropriate for local cultural, economic, and social conditions) is geared toward projects which: are small in scale, decentralized, and energy efficient; use local materials, labor, and ingenuity; are not capital-intensive; and maximize the use of renewable energy resources. Descriptions of such projects…

Many schools have growing student enrollments that require bigger and better buildings, and evolving educational delivery methods warrant new spatial concepts that support modern teaching needs. As much as new schools stand out, a school renovation project forms the heart of most districts' facilities-improvement initiatives. School renovations…

Although other New England cities also reap the benefits of college and university presences, Cambridge is the quintessential "college town." It was with an uncomfortable appreciation for this value-added aspect of universities that the author, as a newly elected city councilor in 1993, found herself in the offices of a VP for government…

How state governments should finance public college and university facilities is discussed. A framework for analyzing the capital financing alternatives available to state governments is described. Several alternatives in Arizona--including state appropriations, leasing, and revenue bonding--are considered as an illustration. (Author/MLW)