On Wednesday, Apr. 10, President Obama made public his proposed Fiscal Year 2014 Budget which includes several key investments in education. There are several programs and initiatives that cut across agency budgets and require partnerships/joint ventures
Intelligent services combine technology, proprietary analytics and expertise in heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to continuously collect, interpret and act upon data from building systems and controls to optimize operational perfor
There are many ways to "go green." There are a plethora of examples of schools and districts that are working to reduce their environmental impact while educating their communities about the sustainability challenges of the 21st century.
Beyond the prospect for energy savings, many school boards assume there will be additional costs associated with green buildings, including the LEED certification effort and the associated building materials and mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems
Schools need to be safe, healthy, educationally appropriate and sustainable. Many of our schools do not make the grade, but a lack of comprehensive data on existing school facilities makes determining the actual need impossible. The last comprehensive sur
Both security and sustainability are important. Newtown and other school shootings make the case for security. The case for sustainability is strong, too. Estimates say that buildings produce 35 percent of the carbon dioxide emitted in the U.S. and use 37
In today's world, educational organizations are moving more and more to a hybrid model of the private and public cloud. Most corporations are at the same place; I am not aware of corporations placing their entire data operations out in the cloud.
Carbon neutrality, net-zero, whatever you call it, is going to be the way everybody will judge the success of sustainability strategies for school districts. Schools are public institutions by their very nature, and the public more and more desires that i
The Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council was established to educate and change our schools into sustainable and healthy places. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn in an environment that enhances the educat
Here's how Cedar Rapids Community School District and its team produced a $44.5 million, sustainable headquarters, capable of a 50 percent energy savings, on schedule and below budget.
The political drama continues in Washington, D.C., with the White House, Congress and individual agencies. One thing is for sure: no one really knows the true impact of the budget cuts on the nation's economy, national security, defense preparedness
Schools that opt to rely upon plans that have been purchased rather than those that have been properly developed to fit local risks, realities and resources are at serious risk for plan failure and are significantly exposed to civil liability. Often refer
Every decision we make has an impact on learning. We can guarantee that our students will have a safe, secure and nurturing place in which to learn by making informed decisions based on more the lowest cost. If you don't have funding to do it all 
If you want to clean for health and do it well instead of winging it and hoping for the best, there's a lot of help available. No person, whether a student, but especially an employee such as a teacher or administrator, deserves a 30-year career in a clean environment.
Less work, good prices and higher-quality goods and services -- sounds great, but it doesn't always work great. While purchasing cooperatives will reduce your workload, there is still plenty of work to do. You have to select the right cooperative
Creating schools that are the center of our communities is one of the key factors in creating 21st century schools. As an amenity for all ages, performing arts facilities are able to actively engage the larger community and accordingly, good planning and design will help ensure that the school and community both can reap the benefits of their investment in these facilities.
Traditional schools were designed when the primary mode of teaching was distributive; teachers provided information and students were responsible for memorizing and repeating the information. All classrooms were identical marching down each side of identical corridors.
Virtually everything a typical student would need to do could be done using a web browser. The number of student learning activities requiring a full blown computer with local applications is few and far between, concentrating more in the high school grad
A Building Automation System (BAS) is what makes an intelligent building intelligent in terms of energy usage. From basic to sophisticated, there's clearly a lot that administrators can do to take advantage of building intelligence to transform their environment.