July 16, 2008

Dear High Performance Schools Community,

The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) Board of Directors and Technical Committee are pleased to announce the release of the 2009 Edition CHPS Criteria for public review. The proposed 2009 Edition CHPS Criteria advances the standard for the design and construction of high performance school buildings that are environmentally responsible, healthy and comfortable spaces for students, teachers, and staff. The Criteria continue to apply not only to the design and construction of new schools, but also to major modernizations and additions to existing school campuses.

The CHPS Criteria has been adapted for use in eight states. This public review draft is representative of the priorities, codes and regulations, and climates of California. In California, the Criteria is updated every three years, coinciding with updates to Title 24, the state’s energy efficiency standard.

The revised Criteria is the result of a rigorous consensus process involving experts in all areas of high performance school design - waste reduction, materials selection, daylighting, acoustics, air quality, water efficiency and energy efficiency. The CHPS Board and Technical Committee - made up of representatives from school districts, utilities, architects, engineers, construction managers and product manufacturers - all contributed to the process of revising the Criteria.

The 2009 Edition takes a fresh look at environmental and health challenges facing schools today. Although the new edition has no new prerequisites, numerous enhancements have been made to existing credits and new credits have been added.

The 2009 edition takes a strong stance on reducing schools’ impacts on climate change by including new credits for understanding and reducing greenhouse gas emissions; it also encourages grid neutral schools by offering more credit for providing on-site power generation. The updated edition also addresses life-cycle impacts in design and product selection, by offering credits for choosing building materials that have undergone life-cycle impact assessment and for designing for deconstruction, durability, and adaptability. New credits have also been added for school gardens, reducing water for recreational fields, installing a water management system, reducing mercury and PBTs (persistent bioaccumulative toxins), and indoor air quality testing.

One notable difference in the structure of the 2009 edition is the addition of the category for Leadership, Education and Innovation, which replaces the Policy and Operations category from the 2006 Edition. This new category includes credits for implementing an integrated design team approach and using the school as a teaching tool. Many of the 2006 policy and operations credits will be incorporated into a new CHPS Criteria for existing school performance and operations, which is under development.

The 2009 Edition is now available for download and comment online: http://www.chps.net/review/2009Edition/. The public comment period is forty-five days, from June 16th to July 31st, 2008.

We are proud of the collaborative effort given thus far that has allowed us to address the concerns of so many stakeholders. We hope you will participate in the review so we can address yours. Thank you for all of your continued support for high performance schools!

Sincerely,

Charles Eley, CHPS
Executive Director

Chip Fox, San Diego Gas and Electric
CHPS Board Chair

Jim Ogden, WCS/Ca
CHPS Technical Committee Chair