Students team up to make school building greener

FORT COLLINS, CO – Students from Colorado State University (CSU) and Kinard Middle School are teaming up as part of a pilot study through the U.S. Green Building Council''s (USBGC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Existing Schools Operations and Maintenance program to improve the environmental standards at the middle school, according to a press release.

According to the release, graduate students in a facilities planning and management class worked with Kinard students to identify ways to conserve water and electricity and recycle waste and compost at the school.

As a result of the study, the CSU students recommended the development of a policy specifying the use of only high-performance plumbing fixtures and fittings and sustainable materials for future updates to the school as well as the implementation of a formal green cleaning policy, the release stated.

CSU Professor of Green Building Brian Dunbar said: "Students have learned the breadth of facilities planning and management issues and practices through this project. Teams of students have met with Kinard facilities staff, gathered data, documented and analyzed current building performance levels and made recommendations to meet the Gold certification standard of the rigorous LEED for Existing Buildings standards."

The Poudre School District is currently considering the recommendations, the release added.