Kudos to Derrick Kolus for his excellent...
Kudos to Derrick Kolus for his excellent research on energy-efficient
school buildings. It has been clear since the topic of dual-pane
windows was first raised in the Budget Advisory Committee almost a
year ago that BUSD has neglected to do its homework on research-based
school design.
We took up Derrick on his challenge to “make the call” and he gave
us some additional information. According to Lisa Heschong of the
Heschong Mahone Group, the practice of lowering classroom ceilings
should be outlawed. But architect John Thomas is planning to lower
the ceilings at John Muir Middle School.
While making it easier to cool a classroom, the lower ceilings
don’t allow for hot, stale air to rise with natural ventilation. Low
ceilings also prevent natural “daylighting” which can save energy by
allowing the electric lights to be off. Daylighting has been shown to
improve student performance by up to 20%. You can watch a video of
Heschong’s comments at https://dsa.ishow.com/video.cfm?id=MOD06
According to Pam Peak, the California representative for the
EnergySmart Schools Program, the school board of LAUSD has adopted a
resolution mandating all future LAUSD construction or renovation
conform to Collaborative For High Performance Schools (CHPS)
guidelines. LAUSD will build or renovate more than 120 schools in the
next decade.
The Burbank Teachers Assn. requests that the BUSD Board of
Education invite EnergySmart Schools conduct a free two-hour seminar
for the school board and Bond Oversight Committee members on the
topic of high-performance school-design practices. We also believe
BUSD should freeze all planning and design in progress until the
seminar has been conducted.
C. KIM ALLENDER AND DIANA ABASTA
Co-Presidents, Burbank Teachers Assn.