Proceedings of a Workshop to Review PATH Strategy, Operating Plan, and Performance Metrics (BICE)

Released 05/05/06

In 1998, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) started a public-private program—the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH)—dedicated to accelerating the development and use of technologies to improve all aspects of housing in the United States. In 2000, the NRC began a review of the program culminating in a report published in 2003. In 2005, HUD asked the NRC to hold a workshop to assess PATH’s most recent draft strategy, operating plan, and performance measures. This report provides an extensive summary of workshop presentations on the HUD goals, the 2003 NRC report, the value of technological innovation, and performance measures for PATH evaluation. These presentations were the basis for subsequent workshop discussions also summarized in this report. The discussions focused on the three major PATH goals and on how those goals and performance measures can be improved to increase the effectiveness of the PATH program.

Green Schools: Attributes for Health and Learning (BICE)

Released 10/2/06

Evidence has accumulated that shows that the quality of indoor environments can affect the health and productivity of adults and children. One consequence is that a movement has emerged to promote the design of schools that have fewer adverse environmental effects. To examine the potential of such design for improving education, several private organizations asked the NRC to review and assess the health and productivity benefits of green schools. This report provides an analysis of the complexity of making such a determination; and an assessment of the potential human health and performance benefits of improvements in the building envelope, indoor air quality, lighting, and acoustical quality. The report also presents an assessment of the overall building condition and student achievement, and offers an analysis of and recommendations for planning and maintaining green schools including research considerations.

Review and Assessment of the Health and Productivity Benefits of Green Schools: An Interim Report (BICE)

Released 2/9/2006

Some educational professionals have suggested that so-called green schools would result in superior performance and increased health for students and teachers. While there is no commonly accepted definition of a green school, there are a number of attributes that such schools appear to have: low cost operations, security, healthy and comfortable, and an environment that enhances learning are among them. To determine the health and productivity benefits of green schools, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the Barr and Kendall Foundations, the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, and the U.S. Green Building Council asked the NRC to examine available studies about the effects of green schools on student learning and teacher productivity. This interim report presents an evaluation of evidence for relationships between various health, learning, and productivity outcomes and five characteristics of green schools: the building envelope, ventilation, lighting, acoustics, and condition. The final report will present evaluations for additional characteristics, a synthesis of the results of all assessments, and promising areas of research.