NEW YORK—Public schools in New York City are poised to green up as officials announce a plan to analyze energy efficiency of the district’s 1,260 school buildings.
Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein and the director of the Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability, Rohit T. Aggarwala, announced Thursday that the Department of Education (DOE) has signed New York City’s schools on to the Green Schools Alliance program—the first school district in the country to join.
The effort is part of the City’s overall efforts to achieve its PlaNYC target of reducing municipal government energy consumption and carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2017. Green Schools Alliance, a nonprofit initiative committed to promoting energy efficiency, resource conservation and environmental awareness and responsibility in schools. Through the Green Schools Alliance, schools share experiences and expertise to lower their energy consumption and carbon footprint.
Schools will be part of a rating system that puts indoor environment quality at the top for points. The site of the school is included in the rating, along with water, energy, and materials. Additional credits will be given for sustainable choices such as low-emitting furniture, storm water set-up, daylight, and roof quality.
A process called benchmarking will be the first step. Benchmarking gives a detailed understanding of the efficiency of each building, and helps the Department of Education target efficiency efforts where they will have the greatest impact.
“This project to benchmark our buildings represents our largest commitment yet to reduce energy consumption in our schools,” said Chancellor Klein. “As a result of this project, our schools will be more efficient—and our environment will be cleaner. This is important work for our City, and it’s a powerful lesson for our students about the importance of sustainability.”
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” said Rohit Aggarwala, director of the Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability. “The Department of Education’s benchmarking of 1,260 school buildings will enable us to make decisions as to which measures we should implement to reduce our City’s greenhouse gases and save money on our energy bills. It also demonstrates that benchmarking is an easy process that yields important information for any kind of building.”
Sustainability director Aggarwala and Chancellor Klein were joined at the DOE headquarters in the Tweed Courthouse in Manhattan by Schools Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm and Division of School Facilities (DSF) chief executive John Shea, GSA founder and president Peg Watson, Department of Citywide Administrative Services Commissioner Martha K. Hirst, School Construction Authority vice president for architecture and engineering E. Bruce Barrett and representatives from community groups that support conservation.
“The partnership between the City and the Green Schools Alliance represents our priority of making sustainability a mainstay in our schools,” said Schools Deputy Chancellor Grimm. “This new relationship will help our schools become more energy efficient.”
“We now have the tools to target effective energy saving measures in our schools,” said DSF executive director John Shea.
“It is appropriate and exciting that New York City, the city where the Green Schools Alliance (GSA) was first launched, has become the first public school district to join the GSA as Charter Members,” GSA founder and president Peg Watson said. “The GSA was created ‘by schools for schools’ to share energy and sustainability best practices, generate momentum and maximize success.”
The New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services coordinates the City’s energy conservation efforts and provided energy usage data from school buildings for the benchmarking initiative. “I am thrilled to be working so closely with the Department of Education in this important effort to achieve energy savings,” said DCAS Commissioner Martha K. Hirst. “In the next two years, the DCAS Office of Energy Conservation will oversee projects in more than 50 schools that will reduce energy use by installing more efficient lighting. There’s no better way to show young people that there will be a greener, greater New York in their future.”
Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein and the director of the Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability, Rohit T. Aggarwala, announced Thursday that the Department of Education (DOE) has signed New York City’s schools on to the Green Schools Alliance program—the first school district in the country to join.
The effort is part of the City’s overall efforts to achieve its PlaNYC target of reducing municipal government energy consumption and carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2017. Green Schools Alliance, a nonprofit initiative committed to promoting energy efficiency, resource conservation and environmental awareness and responsibility in schools. Through the Green Schools Alliance, schools share experiences and expertise to lower their energy consumption and carbon footprint.
Schools will be part of a rating system that puts indoor environment quality at the top for points. The site of the school is included in the rating, along with water, energy, and materials. Additional credits will be given for sustainable choices such as low-emitting furniture, storm water set-up, daylight, and roof quality.
A process called benchmarking will be the first step. Benchmarking gives a detailed understanding of the efficiency of each building, and helps the Department of Education target efficiency efforts where they will have the greatest impact.
“This project to benchmark our buildings represents our largest commitment yet to reduce energy consumption in our schools,” said Chancellor Klein. “As a result of this project, our schools will be more efficient—and our environment will be cleaner. This is important work for our City, and it’s a powerful lesson for our students about the importance of sustainability.”
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” said Rohit Aggarwala, director of the Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability. “The Department of Education’s benchmarking of 1,260 school buildings will enable us to make decisions as to which measures we should implement to reduce our City’s greenhouse gases and save money on our energy bills. It also demonstrates that benchmarking is an easy process that yields important information for any kind of building.”
Sustainability director Aggarwala and Chancellor Klein were joined at the DOE headquarters in the Tweed Courthouse in Manhattan by Schools Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm and Division of School Facilities (DSF) chief executive John Shea, GSA founder and president Peg Watson, Department of Citywide Administrative Services Commissioner Martha K. Hirst, School Construction Authority vice president for architecture and engineering E. Bruce Barrett and representatives from community groups that support conservation.
“The partnership between the City and the Green Schools Alliance represents our priority of making sustainability a mainstay in our schools,” said Schools Deputy Chancellor Grimm. “This new relationship will help our schools become more energy efficient.”
“We now have the tools to target effective energy saving measures in our schools,” said DSF executive director John Shea.
“It is appropriate and exciting that New York City, the city where the Green Schools Alliance (GSA) was first launched, has become the first public school district to join the GSA as Charter Members,” GSA founder and president Peg Watson said. “The GSA was created ‘by schools for schools’ to share energy and sustainability best practices, generate momentum and maximize success.”
The New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services coordinates the City’s energy conservation efforts and provided energy usage data from school buildings for the benchmarking initiative. “I am thrilled to be working so closely with the Department of Education in this important effort to achieve energy savings,” said DCAS Commissioner Martha K. Hirst. “In the next two years, the DCAS Office of Energy Conservation will oversee projects in more than 50 schools that will reduce energy use by installing more efficient lighting. There’s no better way to show young people that there will be a greener, greater New York in their future.”
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