Experience teaches that an emergency response plan can save lives if disaster comes. But, emergency response planning takes time and resources that can be difficult to marshal today, especially when you know that nothing bad is likely to happen tomorrow.
What may have been impossible five to 10 years ago is very possible today due to the advancements in sustainable technologies and the continuing decrease in costs for these systems. With the coupling of energy reduction principles such as geothermal, alon
Public education in the United States is under attack, and not just from one side or another; it's from politicians of all stripes who see education as a pot of money that they do not (yet) control.
What is the classroom of the future? It's flexible in furniture and format. It's loaded with technology that assists the learning process. It's an extension of the outdoors. It's a community space. It's designed for independent or
The community school movement certainly favors conventional community school notions, but it goes far beyond convention. This movement envisions schools as hubs for a long list of community services designed not only to improve the education offered by th
In school parlance, demographic studies essentially mean projecting the number of students likely to be enrolled in the district and individual schools next year and over a period of five to 10 years. The simplest and most effective way to do that is call
Something hard for a baby boomer to use is easy for the young digital natives that are in school trying to learn how to think and reason their way out of a project. What works for a person or a small group of people in an intimate setting on the park benc
The key to risk management is heightened awareness. If schools take the time to educate faculty about updates in technology, such as Ultrasurf, potential problems can be minimized. The time is now, as the worst can be avoided by informing teachers before
It is not a focus on standardization that will make our students succeed. It is cultivating their individuality, their creativity and their ability to look at things differently. Just knowing what everybody else knows will not cut it in today's world
The Hillsborough County School District, in Tampa, is the ninth largest in the country. We have created and implemented the following mechanical engineering systems for our school buildings to provide consistent and dependable indoor air quality, reduce c
While most schools have been using video for years now, most are still not using it to its full potential. Centralizing the management and monitoring of video is the first step to its strategic utilization, which provides superintendents and district-leve
From 2008 through 2009, Dr. Pavel Samsonov, of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, ran an experiment to see if video conferencing was a viable method of teaching homebound high school students.
In the past, signs were often an afterthought to school design. Too often they still are. Whether they are used for identity, directional, or information purposes, signs should be integrated into the overall design.
If your board room, auditorium, gymnasium or other space has ever been the scene of public protest over an educational facility construction project, or if you have worked tirelessly to pass a referendum only to have it voted down, you can count yourself
Given the nation's current budget deficit, President Obama released on February 14, 2011 his proposed budget for fiscal year 2012. For some sectors, the comment has been that this is no Valentine! But for the education sector, it indicated an overall
What does it take to create school facilities now, that can handle challenges in the 21st century? What will students and staff be doing in 2030 that is different from today, and how will the community be involved? How do you create facilities that will a
NIMS is a flexible, plain English organizational framework designed to provide a common standard for emergency management. It is flexible in that the components of NIMS can aid in the development of plans, processes, procedures, agreements and roles for m
As I sit watching the news I hear about international competition, our students falling behind, the need to upgrade our math and science programs, school consolidations and workforce development. Call it déjà vu (or maybe old age), but I rem
To make sure that your dynamic facility program is reflected through dynamic furniture, it's important to have user-driven selections. Involving your architect can add value this process through their understanding of the facility design and construc
The new year has started, and for most of us that means our school district has completed about half of the academic year. Now, the task turns to looking forward to projects that will be designed and implemented during the summer recess. This is also a go