For Immediate Release 
Tuesday, October 1, 2002 
Contact: Jerelyn Wilson
802-257-7300 ext. 102

Washington, DC, October 1, 2002.  Alex Wilson, president of BuildingGreen, Inc.
of Brattleboro, Vermont, testified before the Senate Environment and Public
Works Committee today on high-performance schools. Wilson was invited by Senator
James Jeffords of Vermont to suggest how the federal government could improve
the way school buildings are designed and constructed. He was one of three
experts invited to testify, along with a representative of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency.

Wilson described a high-performance, green school as "one that improves the
learning environment while minimizing environmental impacts, saving energy, and
reducing operating costs." He explained that high-performance schools rely on an
integrated, whole-building approach to design. This is a process in which
different members of a design team work together-recognizing, for example, that
if better glazings and energy-efficient lighting systems are installed, the air
conditioning system can be downsized.

After reviewing the benefits of high-performance schools-including improved
student performance, higher attendance rates, lower operating costs, and reduced
environmental impacts-Wilson outlined a few recommendations to the Committee:

* Research. Wilson urged the Senators to fund research on the relationship
between academic performance and such factors as daylighting and indoor air
quality. He urged increased support for basic building science research and the
development of better HVAC and lighting packages for schools to minimize the
need for expensive customized engineering. Given the Committee's oversight of
EPA, he suggested that they consider the development of national protocols for
quantifying hazardous emissions from building materials.

* Education and technology transfer. Rather than funding the development of new
guidelines on the design and construction of high-performance schools, Wilson
suggest funding to get these resources into the hands of those who need them.
This is particularly important, he argued, in smaller states without strong
state programs.

* Flow-through support to schools. Wilson suggested that funding be provided to
state education departments to pay for computer modeling during design and
commissioning, two very important aspects of quality design and construction
that are often hard for local school districts to afford.

* LEED for Schools. Finally, Wilson suggested funding for a special LEED
Application Guide for Schools. The U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program is highly successful as a means
of third-party verification of a building's performance. But to make this
process more applicable to schools, a special Application Guide is needed.

"Schools are an investment in our country's future," Wilson told the Committee,
and "high-performance schools can better serve our children's academic
potential, even while reducing taxpayer costs." He argued that federal support
at key leverage points is needed to ensure that a greater percentage of the
thousands of new schools planned over the next several years will be green,
high-performance buildings.

The other two experts testifying were Claire Barnette, founder and executive
director of the Healthy Schools Network in Albany, New York, and Lois Gibbs, a
well-known activist on school siting issues who directs the Center for Health,
Environment, and Justice in Falls Church, Virginia. Senator Jeffords and Senator
Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was also at the hearing, are both strong advocates
of healthy and high-performance schools. They are hoping to advance this agenda
in Congress during the next term.

Alex Wilson's complete testimony is available as a free download at
http://www.buildinggreen.com/go/testimony.html

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