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No Child Left Inside: New Legislation for K-12 Environmental Education

On Sept. 18, 2008 the U.S. House of Representatives passed The No Child Left Inside Act of 2008, H.R. 3036, which was sponsored by John P. Sarbanes (D-MD) and co-sponsored by 64 others. The act is intended to support local and statewide efforts to expand

Boiler Retrofits Help Increase Efficiency, Lower Energy Bills

Schools across America are facing tight budgets, with escalating energy bills a substantial factor in these budgets. Boilers account for one-third of those energy bills. Older boilers typically have efficiency rates up to 77 percent, but with the retrofit

What if… Visualizing Change in the Learning Environment

As student populations decline, global competition becomes even fiercer, and energy costs continue to rise, these pressures are only going to increase, and colleges are going to need to evolve rapidly to maintain their viability. Because the physical camp

Boiler Retrofits Help Increase Efficiency, Lower Energy Bills

Escalating energy bills are a major factor contributing to the shrinking amount of money available to be put toward the education system. Boilers consume large amounts of fuel for indoor climate control and domestic hot water. With one-third of a college&

Where Does All the Dirt Go?

Floor covering in schools continues to generate discussion as to what may be best suited for students susceptible to respiratory challenges. Recognizing the trend toward dwindling budgets being allocated to school maintenance and operations, floor coverin

Window Restoration

If you spend a few minutes observing the advertisements in any of today's media forums, you'll surely witness the touting of a product being new and better. But is new always better? When it comes to aging windows, new replacements don't al

The Importance of Participatory Planning

Planning, designing, and constructing a new school are formidable tasks. Garnering the necessary support to fund these projects may be an even bigger task. What can districts do to improve their chances of success? Make sure that ALL stakeholders are invo

Programmed Carpet Cleaning for Commercial Buildings

Maintenance and cleaning of floor coverings plays a critical role in occupant health and safety, aesthetics, flooring performance, and investment protection; therefore, campus facilities present significant carpet maintenance and cleaning challenges. Thos

Integration in 3D

A more recent hot topic in the campus security is "integration." Integration seeks to bridge the gap between fire safety and security. Integration attempts to address years of the disconnected accumulation of products. Integration also holds the

Understanding, Detecting, and Preventing Fraud

Fraud happens. Sometimes it's big and involves business relationships outside the organization; other times it's small and deeply hidden within the detailed processes of the daily operations. The areas of risk for fraud are diverse, and it most

Seeing Clearly: Specifying Energy-Efficient Windows and Glass-Paneled Doors

Gone are the days when merely specifying insulating glass was enough to satisfy a demand for energy-efficient windows and glass-paneled doors. Now, with green building and LEED leading the way, knowledge of glazing, coatings, and framing options is essent

Tell Them What Not to Do

Campus emergency preparedness plans should provide specific and practical action steps for employees to perform in the event of a crisis. However, personnel must be provided with specific information on actions they should avoid during crisis situations.

The Three "D"s of Integration

A more recent hot topic in the school security is "integration." Just consult Google, and you will find that the term "security integration" brings approximately 19,700,000 results! Why such a popular topic? Integration seeks to bridge

No Free Lunch

Or free music, movies, or ringtones, for that matter. Peer-to-peer file sharing programs allowed computer users to swap copyrighted material for free. And swap they did. As the Recording Industry Association of America gets serious about curbing illegal d

A Second Chance

It's a dilemma many campuses struggle with: exactly what do you do with the old furniture? Institutions like Georgetown University, the University of San Diego, the University of California system, and Stanford University, to name a few, have turned

Nature's Classroom

The idea of using natural landscaping has been evolving in the corporate and even college campus development industries for the last five to 10 years as companies and institutions have discovered that a native landscape can be attractive while also reinfo

Getting the Word Out: Digital Signage Improves Campus Communication

College administrators are putting an increased emphasis on improving their ability to communicate with students, staff, and visitors quickly and effectively. It's no wonder academic institutions across the country — large and small — are o

Staying in Touch

As technology becomes more important in K-12 education, you're not only planning for the needs of today, but also trying to predict the needs of tomorrow. The days are long gone when "technology in the schools" meant a few computers in the

Let's Make Better Choices This Time

There is no question that the current gas crisis of 2008 will also have an effect on the economy, school budgets, operations, and design. If I had one wish, it would be that we learned from our past. Hopefully, this time we will do more than come up with

The Presidential Search: Sticky Wickets

The perils and pitfalls of the search process could consume an entire volume, but based upon our experience as both candidates and search consultants, there are three common junctures at which the process often becomes derailed.

Welcome to the Machine

Next time you look around your campus kitchens, take a special glance at your appliances. Your foodservice appliances are big-ticket items. These expensive implements make your staff's lives easier and your foodservices run smoothly. What does it tak

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