Schools Lead the Way to Zero-Energy Buildings, and Use Them for Student Learning

Published by The Hechinger Report: Ultra-green schools are going up in every sort of district – urban and rural, affluent and lower income, blue state and red state. According to a March 2018 NBI report, there are 89 verified or “emerging” net-zero schools (emerging means under construction or too new to have been verified yet). And school buildings are the leading type of non-residential net-zero building, representing 37 percent of all projects tracked by NBI. Much of the advocacy for net-zero buildings has focused on environmental and economic incentives but K-12 schools are uncovering major educational benefits as well.