Green Schools Becoming the Norm: Hear from School Construction Experts and Tour a New Green School

For immediate release
Please contact: Ariel Dekovic, 415-970-6604, ariel@chps.net

September 8, 2008 (Sacramento) - California school construction and building industry leaders will join representatives from the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) to give an update on high performance schools and green building in California. A tour of a high performance, green public school – Sacramento’s new H. Allen Hight Learning Center (HAH) – will follow. The school will also be recognized as a CHPS-Designed, green, healthy school.

SPEAKERS: Mr. Rob Cook, Executive Officer of the Office of Public School Construction, who will discuss the state of California’s funding for green schools; Mr. Dave Walls, Executive Director of the California Building Standards Commission, who will review the newly released Green Building Code for California and how it might affect schools in the future; Mr. Charles Eley, Executive Director of CHPS, who will provide an update on the state of green schools in America and present the school with a plaque recognizing that it is a CHPS-Designed high performance school; and Mr. Hervey A. Taylor III, principal of H. Allen Hight Learning Center, who will welcome participants to HAH.

WHERE: H. Allen Hight Learning Center in Northern Sacramento. The school is located at 3200 N. Park Drive (at East Commerce Way and North Park Drive) in Sacramento, CA, 95835.

WHEN: Friday, September 12th, 2008 from 9 AM – 12 PM.

WHAT: School representatives from sixteen states will gather in California’s capital for two days to learn about and to discuss how to make America’s schools green and healthy. This press gathering takes place on Day II of the Greentools for Healthy Schools Conference, CHPS’ annual training event.

““Fifteen years ago, building high performance, sustainable schools was the dream of a few. These concepts and practices are becoming mainstream, but we have a long journey ahead of us,” said Mr. Rob Cook, Executive Officer of Office of Public School Construction. “The $100 million in High performance funds in Proposition 1D is a sizable commitment to sustainable schools in California. A well-designed, sustainable facility reduces utility costs by 20 to 30 percent and enhances pupil performance.”

He continued, “Sustainable schools are a win-win-win for everyone.”

To learn more about Greentools, visit: www.chps.net/greentools. For a press pass to the entire event, please call Ariel Dekovic, CHPS, at 617-823-7474.

The Collaborative for High Performance Schools is the nation’s first green building rating program developed especially for school learning environments. The mission of CHPS is to improve the quality of education for our nation’s schoolchildren by facilitating the design of a new generation of high performance schools: places of learning that are environmentally sustainable, healthy and comfortable. For more information about CHPS, visit www.chps.net; for more information about Greentools visit: www.chps.net/greentools.