CHPS Releases Operations Report Card for Greening Existing Schools

April 26, 2010 (San Francisco, CA) – In celebration of National Healthy Schools Day, the Collaborative for High Performance Schools has released the Operations Report Card (ORC), a new low-cost, online tool that benchmarks current performance, analyzes existing conditions and recommends green and healthy improvements for existing school buildings.

“With the introduction of the Operations Report Card, CHPS is providing an affordable solution for improving the performance of the 130,000 existing schools in the United States,” said Bill Orr, executive director of CHPS, at a virtual press conference on Monday to announce the launch of the ORC. “When we talk about green schools for all students, we shouldn’t just be talking about the lucky few that get to attend a newly constructed high performance school. Now we have a tool that provides every school with the opportunity to become a high performance school.”

This new program allows both high- and low-performance schools to benchmark their current performance and receive suggestions for improvement in five categories: energy efficiency, thermal comfort, visual comfort, acoustics, and indoor air quality.

The program had six pilot school participants over the last year, including one from Los Angeles Unified School District. “The CHPS ORC has been a tremendous tool to verify data,” said Lucy Padilla of LAUSD. “The ORC gives the design management team the opportunity to evaluate specific features in classrooms and workspaces to make a better environment for our students, teachers and staff.”

Development of the ORC was funded by a grant from the California Energy Commission. "The California Energy Commission is excited to see the launch of this important new tool for schools. Benchmarking current performance and pursuing relevant improvements are important first steps in improving efficiency, lowering utility bills, and providing a better environment for students,” said Commissioner Anthony Eggert. “The CEC is proud to have sponsored the development of the Operations Report Card, and we look forward to its adoption,” he continued.

The ORC combines facilities data, system and classroom measurements and occupant surveys to generate report card scores and recommended improvements. “The occupant survey was incredibly successful and provided us the opportunity to initiate open conversations with the classroom teachers, to listen to their concerns and to further increase a trusting work relationship,” said Steven Plaxco, Director of Maintenance and Facilities at Yuba City Unified School District, who spearheaded the district’s participation in the pilot school program.

The cost for schools to participate in the Operations Report Card program ranges from $500 to $900 per school, depending on the number of schools that a district enrolls. It costs $900 for an individual school to participate. Recognition will be available for two classes of participants: high performers and high improvers. The program formally recognizes schools that make noticeable gains towards high performance, even if they start off lower on the spectrum.

CHPS is a 501c(3) non-profit headquartered in San Francisco. For more information about CHPS, visit www.chps.net.
###

The Collaborative for High Performance Schools created the nation’s first green building rating program developed especially for school learning environments. The mission of CHPS is to make schools better places to learn by facilitating the design, construction and operation of a new generation of high performance schools - places of learning that are environmentally sustainable, healthy and comfortable.