According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, flooding is the nation's most common natural disaster. Some floods develop slowly during an extended period of rain or in a warming trend following a heavy snow. Flash floods can occur quickly, without any visible sign of rain. Catastrophic floods are associated with burst dams and levees,…

One constant found in almost every education facility, in addition to students and teachers, is the school washroom. Every day, millions of students, staff members and visitors use school washrooms and in the process consume millions of gallons of water. For students concerned about conserving resources and for educators committed to teaching…

Across the nation, large urban school districts are experiencing premature and rapidly accelerating deterioration of school buildings. The conditions of buildings and equipment, most importantly in classrooms and school support spaces, are deteriorating to the point of hindering the core mission of schools: educating children. This report is the…

APPA's Information and Research Committee's goal for this year was to enhance the survey and report tools by making them both more navigable, user friendly, and accurate. Significant progress has been made with all of these initiatives. APPA also automated many of the internal processes for the survey and report, which resulted in a…

Healthy school environments are essential to ensure the best setting for learning. When school environments are unhealthy, students and staff may be exposed to harmful pollutants and chemicals that can cause their health, attendance, and scholastic performance to suffer. Among the factors that can affect the environmental quality of school indoor…

Environmentally preferable products, sustainability, "green," reducing environmental footprint--have all become part of the everyday lexicon as schools, businesses, households, and the public sector have increasingly focused on strategies and tactics designed to reduce their impact on the environment and human health. State governments…

Bill Thompson, Director of Facilities for Lockport Township High School in Illinois, first considered starting a green cleaning program after his janitors became dizzy when using a traditional chemical floor stripper. Thompson started introducing green products gradually at Lockport Township High, and now almost all of the cleaning agents used at…

This paper studies the link between school facilities (buildings and grounds) and student achievement in eight countries using data from the TIMSS 2003 database. The results indicate a negative relationship, but the estimated coefficients are mainly insignificant. Interestingly, the coefficients differ heavily across countries. Whereas there seem…

When an education facility neglects washrooms and lets them become unsanitary and unsafe havens for vandalism and bullying, that can affect the health and morale of students and staff. Schools and universities must be vigilant about upkeep of their washrooms to avoid potential health and behavior problems. At a minimum, schools and universities…

The U.S. Department of Education's "Planning Guide for Maintaining School Facilities" states that a sound facilities maintenance plan serves as evidence that school facilities are, and will be, cared for appropriately. On the other hand, negligent facilities maintenance planning can cause real problems. Budget restraints and cuts in…

The 2012-2013 school year represents a pivotal juncture for DC Public Schools. Last spring, Mayor Gray and Chancellor Kaya Henderson introduced "A Capital Commitment," their ambitious plan to dramatically accelerate student achievement in the district over the next five years by providing all of their students with a safe, academically…

Green cleaning plays a significant and supportive role in helping education institutions meet their sustainability goals. However, identifying cleaning products, supplies and equipment that truly are environmentally preferable can be daunting. The marketplace is inundated with products and services purporting to be "green" or environmentally…

"My thumb got me into this!" declares the new APPA President Mary Vosevich when asked how she entered the field of educational facilities management. It was 1984, and Vosevich, a Midwest native, was working at Monsanto in St. Louis as a research biologist, having earned her B.S. in horticulture/agriculture from the University of…

Operating facilities more efficiently is always a worthwhile goal, but when education budgets are shrinking, the quest for efficiency becomes a necessity. In the funding climate that schools and universities find themselves, building managers will be fortunate to hang on to the budget they have, let alone receive the resources they need to address…

Maintenance of physical structures always has been a significant challenge for education institutions, but today's economic climate, which has cut budgets to the bone, has raised the stakes. Funding, staffing and resources for proper maintenance are becoming harder to find, and the need for upkeep and maintenance remains constant. Nowhere is this…