Green Building

Overview

The Green Building category looks at the policies and practices of schools’ adoption and use of high-performance green building design. This includes the adoption of campus-wide green building policies or guidelines, integration of green building practices into new construction projects, and the incorporation of green building design features into retrofits of existing buildings. Points are also awarded for participating in the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.

Key Findings

• Three in five schools have green building projects. A substantial 61 percent of schools have at least one LEED-certified green building or are in the process of constructing one.

• More than half of schools have adopted green building policies. A sizable 59 percent of schools have adopted campus-wide green building policies that specify certain minimum performance levels such as achieving LEED Silver certification.

• The average grade for the Green Building category was "C+." For a full account of school performance by grade, please refer to the chart on the next page.

Grade Distribution