The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) is the United States' first green building rating program especially designed for K-12 schools.http://www.green-technology.org/green_technology_magazine/chps_story.htm Green Technology. CHPS provides information and resources to schools in order to facilitate the construction and operation of high performance institutions. A high performance school is energy and resource efficient as well as healthy, comfortable, well lit, and containing the amenities for a quality education.

History and organization

CHPS was created as the result of a meeting in November 1999, when the California Energy Commission called together

Pacific Gas and Electric Company The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered in the Pacific Gas & Electric Building, in San Francisco, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 milli ...

, Sempra Energy, and Southern California Edison to discuss how to improve the energy performance of California’s schools. CHPS addresses not only

energy efficiency Energy efficiency may refer to: * Energy efficiency (physics), the ratio between the useful output and input of an energy conversion process ** Electrical efficiency, useful power output per electrical power consumed ** Mechanical efficiency, a ra ...

, but additional considerations that foster healthy and environmentally responsible school buildings. The CHPS criteria, published in 2002, established the nation’s first building rating program specifically intended to assist schools in designing sound, environmentally responsible learning spaces. Now, CHPS is a national membership organization with two high performance building rating and recognition programs: CHPS Designed and CHPS Verified. Schools can self-certify their building through the CHPS Designed program, or seek

third-party verification Third-party verification (TPV) is a process of getting an independent party to confirm that the customer is actually requesting a change or ordering a new service or product. By putting the customer on the phone (usually via transfer or 3-way call) ...

of their high performance school through the CHPS Verified program. Both programs utilize the CHPS guidelines provided in the

Best Practices A best practice is a method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to other known alternatives because it often produces results that are superior to those achieved by other means or because it has become a standard way of doing ...

Manual, a six volume technical manual detailing the process of building and maintaining a high performance school. In addition, CHPS offers training, conferences, and other tools for designing healthy, green schools. The CHPS Low-Emitting Materials table contains products that have been certified to meet the CHPS Low-Emitting Materials criteria, Section 01350, for use in a typical classroom as described in a California Department of Health Services (CDHS) Standard Practice. California Department of Health Services. The CHPS Low-Emitting Materials table is referenced in the California Green Building Code http://www.documents.dgs.ca.gov/bsc/prpsd_chngs/documents/2007/bsc_02_07_isor_pt11.pdf California Green Building Code. and in the Minnesota Sustainable Building Guidelines. Minnesota Sustainable Building Guidelines. CHPS membership is composed of over 225 member organizations including government agencies,

utility companies A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...

, school districts, non-profit organizations and private companies. While the program started in California, it has now expanded to other states, including

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, and

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. Soon,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

will also adopt CHPS standards. CHPS School Districts include

Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the 2nd largest public school district in ...

Burbank Unified School District Burbank Unified School District is a school district headquartered in Burbank, California, United States. History Originally students attended Burbank schools until the high school level, when they moved on to Glendale Union High School Distr ...

, Coast Community College District, Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District, San Diego Unified School District,

San Francisco Unified School District San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), established in 1851, is the only public school district within the City and County of San Francisco, and the first in the state of California. Under the management of the San Francisco Board of Educa ...

, San Marcos Unified School District, San Rafael City Schools,

Visalia Unified School District The Visalia Unified School District is a school district in Tulare County, California. The school district covers an area of 214 miles, and includes 26 elementary schools, a newcomer language assessment center, five middle schools, four compreh ...

Natomas Unified School District Natomas Unified School District is located in northwestern Sacramento, California. It is the main school district of Natomas, a neighborhood of Sacramento. Chris Evans is the Superintendent. William Young is the Deputy Superintendent of Admin ...

, New Haven Unified School District, Ukiah Unified School District, Cajon Valley Union School District,

Poway Unified School District Poway Unified School District is a school district located in Poway, California. The district operates 26 elementary schools (grades Preschool–5), seven middle schools (6–8); five comprehensive high schools (9–12); and one continuation hi ...

, Palo Alto Unified School District,

Oakland Unified School District Oakland Unified School District is a public education school district that operates a total of 80 elementary schools (TK–5), middle schools (6–8), and high schools (9–12). There are also 28 district-authorized charter schools in Oaklan ...

Roseland School District The Roseland School District is a community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade from Roseland, in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2021–22 school year, the district, ...

, Menlo Park City School District,

Santa Ana Unified School District The Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) is a school district in Orange County, California that serves most of the city of Santa Ana and small portions of the cities of Irvine, Tustin, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. Although its geographic ...

, West Contra Costa Unified School District, Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District,

Long Beach Unified School District The Long Beach Unified School District is a school district headquartered in Long Beach, California, United States. Established in 1885, Long Beach Unified School District now educates 81,000 students in 84 public schools in the cities of Lon ...

Capistrano Unified School District Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD) is the largest school district in Orange County, California, United States. It is the 8th largest district in the state and the 78th largest in the country. The district currently has 54,036 students and ...

, and

Windsor Unified School District Windsor Unified School District or WUSD is the public school district in Windsor, California. The district serves 5,400 students from kindergarten through high school. Its 2013 API score was 776. Schools There are 7 schools in the district: * W ...

. The CHPS

Board of Directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

and Technical Committee consist of national representatives from a range of sectors involved in school design, construction and operation.

High performance schools

High performance schools are healthy, comfortable, energy efficient, resource efficient, water efficient, safe, secure, adaptable, and easy to operate and maintain.

ASHRAE The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE ) is an American professional association seeking to advance heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) systems design and constructio ...

Journal. These qualities help school districts assist students to achieve higher test scores, retain quality teachers and staff, reduce operating cost, increase average daily attendance, and reduce liability, while at the same time being friendly to the environment. High performance design can have a positive effect on health and comfort, and design strategies such as daylighting have been shown to enhance student learning. Good indoor air quality is essential for teacher and student health. Good design also produces more comfortable environments with proper lighting,

air temperature Atmospheric temperature is a measure of temperature at different levels of the Earth's atmosphere. It is governed by many factors, including insolation, incoming solar radiation, humidity and altitude. When discussing surface air temperature, the ...

, humidity, and noise levels. These factors reduce distractions and create environments where students and teachers can see clearly, hear accurately, and not feel too warm or too cold. High performance design is also

cost effective Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) is a form of economic analysis that compares the relative costs and outcomes (effects) of different courses of action. Cost-effectiveness analysis is distinct from cost–benefit analysis, which assigns a monetar ...

because it creates environments that are energy and resource efficient.http://www.csba.org/NewsAndMedia/Publications/CASchoolsMagazine/2008/Spring/InThisIssue/GreenSchools.aspx California Schools Magazine. These increased efficiencies save money on utility bills and are so valuable that some organizations will provide building owners with funds to have them included in the design.http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=2908 "Greening America’s Schools," Gregory Kats. Furthermore, healthier environments can bring money into the school by lowering

absenteeism Absenteeism is a habitual pattern of absence from a duty or obligation without good reason. Generally, absenteeism is unplanned absences. Absenteeism has been viewed as an indicator of poor individual performance, as well as a breach of an implici ...

and increasing funding based on average daily attendance. These financial, health, and productivity benefits are the result of integrated design: understanding how building elements affect one another to optimize the performance of the entire school. On June 4, 2008, the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

passed the "21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act," that commits over $20 billion of funding over the next five years to high performance schools. eSchool News. CHPS is recognized as one of the standards that projects would need to meet in order to qualify for the H.R. 3021 legislation funding. H.R. 3021 was referred to the Senate on August 1, 2008.http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.03021 : THOMAS

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

CHPS Best Practices Manual

The CHPS Best Practices Manual is a six-volume technical guide for high performance schools. The manual covers planning, design, high performance benchmarks, maintenance and operations, commissioning and relocatable classrooms in high performance schools. California DGS. There are versions of the Criteria Volume available for all participating states. There are versions of the Planning Volume available for California and Massachusetts. The manual was developed through a

consensus process Consensus decision-making or consensus process (often abbreviated to ''consensus'') are group decision-making processes in which participants develop and decide on proposals with the aim, or requirement, of acceptance by all. The focus on es ...

with the assistance of school officials, state agencies, industry representatives and design professionals. CHPS periodically updates each volume of the manual.

References

{{Reflist

External links

The Collaborative for High Performance Schools website
Schools programs Sustainable building in the United States

History and organization

High performance schools

CHPS Best Practices Manual

See also

References

External links