Carbon Neutral Schools Customizable Templates
Document / April 25, 2022
To accompany the Decarbonization Roadmap Guide, a number of templates have been developed for school districts to customize to their needs in their efforts to decarbonize
Carbon Neutral Schools Resolution Template
The Carbon Neutral Schools Resolution Template provides a starting place when establishing formal district policy regarding carbon neutral facilities. It includes instructions on how to successfully adapt the resolution to declare the district’s commitment to healthy, carbon neutral facilities.
Energy and Carbon Project Requirements Template
This template is an example of an Owners Project Requirements (OPR)that can be customized for climate zone and location. The OPR narrative details functional requirements of school construction and outlines expectations of how the building will be used and operated. This references the Advanced Energy Design Guide for Zero Energy K-12 Schools which provides detailed technical requirements on how to achieve zero energy at a lower first cost.
Download the Template
Schools Energy and Carbon Design Checklist
This Checklist for Energy and Carbon outlines a series of critical energy and carbon considerations during design and construction. These considerations can help facilitate meaningful dialogue with construction professionals, and is especially useful early in conceptual design. Teams can refer to and update the checklist throughout the design process.
Download the Checklist
Building Energy Data and Characteristics Template
This template is designed to help catalog building energy use data and building characteristics. It can be used for ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager data entry or for schools districts to keep a separate record of their own. The data fields in the document align with the data fields needed to enter in building benchmarking data for ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.
Download the Template
Project Team Interview Questions and Guidance for Carbon Neutral Schools
The interview is an important time to meet design team members, ask and answer clarifying questions, and discuss initial project goals. This document includes a list of questions to make sure that energy and carbon are discussed in the interview. This is an important way to ensure that design teams share the commitment to carbon neutral schools.
Download the Interview Questions
Template Bond Criteria for Healthy, Energy Efficient, Carbon Neutral Schools
Early in bond planning, school districts investigate potential costs of construction based on conceptual designs. This list of strategies can be used in that process to inform the cost estimating team of new construction, major renovation, or retrofit project requirements. This can ensure adequate funding for energy and carbon goals in construction projects.
Annual Energy and Carbon Emissions Reductions Report Template
This annual report template shares accomplishments and initiatives related to sustainability and decarbonization practices. The document reports the status of long-term goals and outlines best practices being used by the district. Useful examples of charts and graphs are included to help tell the story to key decisionmakers.