The New Buildings Institute Schools Initiative works to transform how school buildings use energy, creating healthier and more efficient learning environments for students and educators nationwide. Schools are community anchors that can catalyze increased awareness, public support, workforce development, and demand for healthy buildings while providing protection against natural disasters and enhancing community resilience. Advancing the transformation of school buildings requires desire, know-how, and funding. Even then, a multitude of barriers present themselves in the face of change. Our work leads districts to solutions that amplify the desire, increase the know-how, and support creative funding approaches to ensure schools in all communities can successfully navigate these barriers and document their successes for others to follow.
Leveraging our expertise with high performance schools, we partner with state and school district leadership, design professionals, utilities, facilities managers, school building occupants, and the communities they serve to advance districts on the road to energy efficiency and resiliency.
What We Do
Schools across the country are working diligently to manage aging infrastructure, reduce energy costs, free up more funding for education, and improve indoor environmental quality, all while being understaffed and underfunded. The Schools Initiative team provides technical assistance, resources, and coaching to schools and districts as they work to improve their facilities while managing these competing priorities. We work 1:1 with districts across the nation to provide comprehensive and long-term support.
Since we started working with schools in 2016, we have helped hundreds of districts nationwide make progress and build upon successes to achieve their energy efficiency and health goals. Through our national network we are able to connect schools and districts with experts on technical assistance topics as well as with each other for peer-to-peer learning.
The core of our support program lies in long-term engagement with districts, to help shepherd them through each step of the way. Regardless of where schools are in the process, the NBI Schools Initiative team meets them where they are, and works hand in hand to develop a plan for long-term support and engagement. This hands-on approach to supporting district personnel utilizes 1:1 structured engagement focused on strengthening the ability of those personnel and their organizations to achieve their energy and efficiency goals and adapt to changes.
Call to Action
We recognize the opportunities that energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality and resiliency provide to schools and their communities, as well as the positive impact schools adopting these practices have on the overall transition to a sustainable built environment.
From consultative support directly with schools and districts, educational support for local school designers, builders, and school administration at the state and local level, and partnerships with other national organizations, we are here to help schools and districts of any size, anywhere in the country. We are continually seeking to grow these programs and welcome conversations with others seeking to achieve a similar mission.
Connect with us at schools@newbuildings.org!
Our expertise:
Getting started
- Identify first steps to improving energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality (IEQ)
- Needs identification and plan development for comprehensive support
Capacity building
- Provide extra staff capacity to overstretched district staff via direct project support
Stakeholder engagement
- Map key stakeholders in decision-making and develop tailored communication strategies
- Attend and support key stakeholder engagement events to leverage expertise and provide additional capacity for school staff
Funding coaching
- Understand and cultivate a list of current funding opportunities for specific states, regions, and districts
- Develop and support funding approaches, grant applications, and chart next steps
- Act as a pass through or administrative entity to help districts receive funds for planning and implementation
Benchmarking school facilities
- Start or optimize building energy benchmarking to support tracking and goal-setting and to comply with local building performance policies
- Prioritizing the best opportunities for energy savings
- Leverage a data-driven approach to prioritize the most cost-effective opportunities for energy savings that follow the building’s natural lifecycle upgrades and renovations
District-level goal setting and planning
- Set realistic, district-level goals and make long-term plans on how to achieve them
- Incorporate goals into formal documentation such as policies, resolutions, and/or technical standard
Roadmapping
- Utilize facility condition assessments, energy and emissions data, health and IEQ, equity metrics (Title 1, CSI, TSI, etc.), and other relevant district data to develop a data driven roadmap for districts to achieve a healthy and efficient building portfolio over time
NBI also offers experience with the following key topics:
- Curriculum development and integration
- Operational resilience, including beneficial electrification, fleet electrification, and resilience hubs
- Building-grid integration
- Procurement support such as Request for Proposal review, Scope of Work development, and recommendations related to the procurement process
Our Projects
Capacity-building
- Efficient and Healthy Schools Program (EHSP): Co-led by NBI and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), EHSP works with US schools to improve their energy efficiency, health, and resilience through national recognition, technical assistance, peer-to-peer support networks, and tailored resources.
Energy Champions Leading the Advancement of Sustainable Schools (Energy CLASS)
- Energy CLASS works to support capacity building in US schools by providing energy efficiency training and coaching to district personnel and partners, with the goal of building institutional knowledge and improving districts’ energy efficiency and health.
Getting to Zero Over Time Schools Cohort
- NBI partnered with the California Division of the State Architect to run a cohort and series of peer-to-peer learning opportunities for K–12 public school districts. Districts were supported in efforts to develop their own road map to net zero energy and zero carbon across their portfolio. NBI still maintains support of these districts although the formal cohort has concluded.
Utility and School District Collaboration
- NBI has partnered with utilities and utility–funded programs across the U.S. to develop educational content, resources, peer-to-peer learning opportunities, research, and technical assistance programs for schools. Some of these entities include: PG&E, SDG&E, SCE, National Grid, Xcel, NYSERDA, Energy Trust of Oregon, SMUD, etc. We welcome additional utility partnerships to encourage schools to engage with utilities in a meaningful way to increase energy efficiency and collaboration.
School Sustainability Plans
- Portland Public Schools (PPS) Decarbonization Roadmap
- Walla Walla Public Schools Sustainability Plan
- Sacramento USD Carbon Neutral Goals & Guidelines
- Lake Tahoe Unified Resolution to Establish Goals for Energy Efficiency, Clean Energy, and Carbon Neutrality
Student Voice and Action Support
- CASH for Climate Student Stipend Program
- Tucson Unified School District Climate Action Resolution
- Portland Public Schools Climate Crisis Response Policy
School District Tracking
- NBI highlights the progress schools across the country have made towards energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality – an important step to continue the movement towards resiliency and promote peer-to-peer learning.
See our Climate Resolution Schools Map to view the districts that have set goals and made plans to reduce energy use.
Resources
Decarbonization Roadmap Guide for School Building Decision Makers
The Decarbonization Roadmap Guide is written for those interested in healthy, efficient, carbon neutral school design, construction and operation. It outlines achievable goals that result in healthy, affordable, all-electric facilities, and explains common actions taken by leading districts to operationalize their carbon neutral ambitions. Different stakeholders are likely to interact with this framework in different ways, and the guide shares examples of how this can be done. In addition, the guide links to resources and templates that can be customized locally.
Access the Guide
Why K-12 Should Feature in America’s National Climate Strategy
This white paper by UndauntedK12, New Buildings Institute, and the Coalition for Climate Education Policy offers a national perspective on the urgent role that our K-12 sector must play in our national climate strategy. In particular, we urge state and municipal climate leaders formulating clean energy and climate plans to devise a strategy to activate their K-12 sectors that includes a call to action for superintendents and school boards.
Access the White Paper
NBI Getting to Zero Schools Resource Hub
Prop 39 ZNE Retrofit Pilot Program
Webinars
A Roadmap for Getting to Zero Net Energy and Carbon Over Time in Schools
A Deeper Dive into Zero Net Carbon Schools
Planning and Design for Getting to Zero in Schools
Find more on our webinars page here.