Every school year, parents, teachers and administrators must deal with overwhelming numbers of sick children. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the average child catches at least eight colds in a year, and kids in the United States miss as many as 189 million school days each year because of colds.…

The influx of technology has brought significant improvements to school facilities. Many of those advancements can be found in classrooms, but when students head down the hall to use the washrooms, they are likely to find a host of technological innovations that have improved conditions in that part of the building. This article describes modern…

Teachers have the "germiest" jobs in America. Only one professional can do anything about getting rid of germs once they have infected buildings: the school custodian. Custodians should be the first line of defense against pathogens in schools. Unfortunately, most are not trained or equipped to deal with this invisible world. Facility maintenance…

From its conception, Richardsville Elementary was designed to be an affordable net zero facility. The design team explored numerous energy saving strategies to dramatically reduce energy consumption. By reducing energy use to 19.31 kBtus annually, the net zero goal could be realized through the implementation of a solar array capable of producing…

The ailing economy has spared few schools and universities. Faced with funding cutbacks, most education administrators have had to make difficult choices about where to allocate dwindling resources. Even in the best of financial times, educating students is the first priority. When money is tight, school maintenance and operations (M&O)…

Good indoor environmental quality (IEQ) is an important component for improving the productivity of students, teachers and support staff. It is crucial for a sense of health and well-being. The overall IEQ has a significant influence on student attendance and performance. Studies have shown that poor indoor air quality results in more illness,…

At thousands of schools and universities, years of economic troubles have led to repeated budget cuts. The reductions typically fall disproportionately on maintenance departments, where cuts are viewed as less critical than those that directly affect classroom instruction. And so nearly every facility manager at an education institution faces a…

This paper features another expanded Web-based Facilities Performance Indicators Report (FPI). The purpose of APPA's Facilities Performance Indicators is to provide a representative set of statistics about facilities in educational institutions. The 2008-09 iteration of the Web-based Facilities Performance Indicators Survey was posted and…

Many education institutions have embraced the growing push for sustainable design and have built environmentally friendly facilities that use resources more efficiently. But the plaudits that administrators receive for LEED certification and other recognition of their efforts may be meaningless if the green commitment ends when a building is…

Educators and administrators may differ over what kind of floor surfaces they prefer in their facilities--carpeting or hard flooring. Advocates on each side can make a case for their choices, depending on how a building is being used, the wishes of building occupants, or the budget they have available. However, no matter what kind of flooring a…

With tax revenues beginning to rebound in most states and endowments on the rebound at many private and public institutions, colleges and universities are growing more hopeful about their financial outlook and instituting new strategies to take advantage of the opportunities. Yet as the economic recovery has slowed in the past few months,…

Many students think custodians are hired to pick up after them. And sometimes adult workers voice similarly negative impressions. What can education institutions do about this negative and improper thinking? Because of heightened concerns about invisible pathogens such as MRSA and swine flu, improved technologies are available to measure bacteria…

School districts' ongoing efforts to promote sustainability in America's education facilities are helping raise awareness of social responsibility and promoting the positive effects that greening their learning environments has on the general health and productivity of students. One institution that's taking the lead in this movement is Chandler…

Deferred maintenance has been one of the great failings of many of the nation's education institutions, and roofs--out of sight, out of mind--are one of the easiest elements of maintenance to neglect. Of course, as many administrators have learned through the years, the cost of putting off routine inspections and preventive maintenance can be…

It's a fact that most students, faculty and visitors who enter a school or college building eventually will use that facility's restrooms. Whether the destination is a lecture hall or classroom, the gym or other sports facility, the cafeteria or the student union, the human flow of restroom traffic is steady--year-round for some facilities and 24…