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HowtoGreenSchools.com - Autism School Builds Texas’ Greenest K-12
The Monarch School’s Chrysalis achieved Gold certification under the US Green Building Council’s LEED for New Construction Rating System - making Monarch the highest rated LEED certified K-12 school in Texas.
Head of School and Founder Dr. Marty Webb said, “We are delighted to have achieved such high scores from both green building programs, especially since we started pursuing DEES and LEED certifications late in our design process. We are already pursuing the ENERGY STAR label and LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance certification.” Only two other K-12 schools in Texas are registered for LEED-EB.
Monarch’s Executive Board President David Matthiesen said, “We wanted to build green but we thought LEED and ENERGY STAR would cause exorbitant costs. Ultimately, we took a fact-based leap of faith, and learned firsthand that building green is economical, practical, meaningful and relevant to students, particularly ours with autism / Asperger’s, attention deficit and hyperactivity, and other neurological disorders.”
The school’s sustainability expert and advisor Mark Robinson, founder of Momentum Bay, a Houston-based green management consulting and marketing boutique, confirmed the business case that encouraged the board, design team and construction team, “Early studies like Greg Kats’ ‘Greening America’s Schools: Costs and Benefits’ (2006) and others show that students in other green schools achieved better test scores, attendance and health. These schools enjoyed 20 times more lifecycle benefits than the small zero-to-two percent upfront premium for green building back then. Given the nation’s cumulative 12-year experience on 10,000+ ENERGY STAR labeled buildings, and nearly 5,000 LEED certified projects, it was clear that sustainable best practices could yield even greater savings for Monarch.”
Ensuring a safe environment for students and reducing long-term operating costs through energy efficiency were central to Chrysalis’ green building strategies. Energy modeling and ENERGY STAR’s Target Finder tool confirmed both. Chrysalis is projected to prevent 33 percent more greenhouse gas emissions than a conventionally designed K-12 school, and use 33 percent less energy, saving more than $170,000 on utility bills over the next 25 years. These savings are worth more than a 13 percent discount on all design professionals’ fees.
Shelly Pottorf, the project’s lead architect said, “Being in a sustainable environment provides a significant advantage to the development of children with special education needs, like Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), the prevalence of which has soared from 1 in 1000 (1990) to 1 in 100 children (2010). The Monarch School’s results suggest that learning and playing on a green campus in sustainable classrooms would reasonably benefit all children, families and even faculty.” Pottorf added, “Daylighting, outdoor views and better air quality - possibly the most critical green building strategies for healthy buildings - have been shown to improve students’ health, attendance, test scores and overall productivity. In fact, these are the discoveries driving green school initiatives such as LEED for Schools, ASHRAE’s Advanced Energy Design Guide, and the Collaborative for High Performance Schools.”
The Monarch School will maintain healthier indoor air via green cleaning practices and integrated pest management (IPM) strategies. After their first year in the new green school, teachers are already noticing improvements. Exposure to indoor air pollutants could have diminished students’ ability to focus.
The new special education facility is also serving Monarch as a teaching tool about sustainability and the environment. The students even interviewed Mayor Annise Parker about her plans for greening Houston.
Science teacher Richard Klein added, “Monarch’s curriculum integrates sustainability and clean tech with science, mathematics, engineering and technology (SMET) and other disciplines via several hands-on activities that teach leadership, entrepreneurship, neighborly respect and hospitality, as well as resource conservation for the great outdoors.”
As it prepares to complete its green campus with two additional greener buildings, The Monarch School hopes that its underdog success story will inspire other schools. Monarch hopes that others will obtain their best possible grades for student performance by certifying independently building design, construction, operations and fiscal performance.
One parent commented, “Students typically receive objective feedback - grades and recognition from their teachers - when they overachieve. So, why wouldn’t all of the United States’ 105,000+ public and private K-12 schools pursue the same, bringing home a ’special’ education report card to parents every year?”
To learn about Chrysalis’ green building strategies, visit
http://www.howtogreenschools.com
About the Author
Mark Robinson
Strategy & Sustainability Consultant
Momentum Bay Associates, LP (d.b.a., Sustainable Texas)
281-451-3841 or 877-ECO-TEXAS
How do I find sue a public school for denying my son who has ADHD a safe learning environment?
Thank you for all the information that was included in the answers to my last question. The fourth grade teacher at my childrens elementary school has made poor choices that have resulted in our family having to take our son and daughter out of the elementary school. This is the second time that I have had to take them out because of the atmosphere. The first time was because she hit my son with a social studies book, and for not adressing bulling issues, for the gossip about my sons learning disability, and for improper comments made in front of classmates. We have tried to talk to the supertindant who has not addressed the issues. Our next step was to file ethics violations. What should a parent do who is in this situation of not feeling like the school was safe for the children due to the teacher and leadership of the school. My son has ADHD and is on an IEP and we as parents have tried to provide a better way one that has worked for him. What do I do about legal rep?
Depending on what state you live in and the education statues, it sounds like your civil right are being violated. Call your local chapter of the ACLU, they should be able to help you.
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