When learning about large-scale environmental problems such as climate change, species extinctions, overpopulation, and habitat destruction, students can become hopelessly dismayed and experience ecophobia--a state of mind in which the student is fearful of the looming environmental problems but senses that there is nothing that can be done to…

The experience of observing students actively engaged in the learning process is precious. There is no better way to celebrate "Children's Health and Energy Awareness Month" than assembling in a world class high performance green school with gifted and talented students learning how to take an integrated approach to sustainable school…

Green Bay Packer coach Vince Lombardi is quoted as saying, "Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is." Whether it's a major university or an urban school district, pulling together and developing a plan and being confident in the financing through performance contracting is the best way to meet student, taxpayer and community…

As a common form of renewable energy, wind power is generating more than just electricity. It is increasingly generating jobs for workers in many different occupations. Many workers are employed on wind farms: areas where groups of wind turbines produce electricity from wind power. Wind farms are frequently located in the midwestern, western, and…

The Irish Department of Education and Skills (DoE) is strongly committed to energy efficiency and to reducing CO[subscript 2] by developing and implementing energy level ceilings in relation to school design that aim to remain below half of the accepted good practice in the field. This approach works within normal departmental budgetary limits to…

How can existing schools significantly reduce their energy use? With energy costs rising and school budgets shrinking, energy use is a substantial cost that can be reduced through conservation efforts. Using a case study methodology, the authors compare two public high schools from the same school district, one that has achieved moderate energy…

The Green Jobs Green New York (GJGNY) Act of 2009 was designed to reduce energy consumption by creating green collar workforce and providing energy efficiency audits to the public. The problem addressed in this study is the discrepancy between the expectations of Green Jobs Green New York Act of 2009 and the implementation of this policy. This…

The Summer 2012 SQR: "Innovations in Campus Sustainability," explores the critical linkages between education, innovation, and sustainability. This issue highlights new and ground-breaking practices within the Innovation (IN) category of STARS, focusing on the unique solutions within higher education that positively impact current and…

Computers can be good and bad for the environment; one can maximize the good and minimize the bad. When dealing with environmental issues, it's difficult to ignore the computing infrastructure. With an operations carbon footprint equal to the airline industry's, computer energy use is only part of the problem; everyone is also dealing with the use…

From around the corner to around the nation, schools and universities are looking to reduce their energy bills. Some are concerned about fuel costs and the impact on their operating budgets; others are motivated by the desire to reduce their carbon footprints and their impacts on the environment. Professionally installed window film can play a key…

The lighting of learning environments is an important focus in designing new schools and renovating older schools. Studies long have shown that appropriate lighting levels and daylighting improve learning; now, climbing energy budgets have spurred school administrators to seek more efficient use of lighting. Electricity rates are expected to rise…

In this work we present the design and assessment of a teaching sequence aimed at introducing the principle of energy conservation at post-compulsory secondary school level (16-18 year olds). The proposal is based on the result of research into teaching-learning difficulties and on the analysis of the physics framework. Evidence is shown that this…

To support the work of Tennessee's Energy Efficient Schools Initiative (EESI) Council, this report describes data on energy expenditures in school districts for 2002/03-2007/08. Energy expenditures rose from about 2.6 percent to about 3.0 percent of total expenditures over the period, with some differences in the mix of energy types and…

Sometimes students come up with crazy ideas. When this author first started teaching at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia five years ago, she had a sophomore share such an idea with her. He wanted to put solar panels on the school's roof as a way to reduce the school's carbon footprint and set a bright clean…

By means of a simple mathematical model developed by the authors, the apparent movement of the Sun can be studied for arbitrary latitudes. Using this model, it is easy to gain insight into various phenomena, such as the passage of the seasons, dependences of position and time of sunrise or sunset on a specific day of year, day duration for…