Healthy, High Performance School Facilities:
Developments in State Policy

Over the past several years, an increasing number of school districts have taken steps to change the way they design and build school facilities. Districts have begun to incorporate a wide variety of environmental and health strategies into the construction and renovation process, with the goal of creating school buildings that advance the learning process while saving money, protecting the environment, and promoting the well being of staff and students.

Some state governments also have embraced this approach to building healthy, high performance schools and have taken action to maximize their investment in school facilities. For example, the state of California helped launch the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) initiative – a public/private undertaking that created the first schools-specific guidance for high performance design and construction and spurred the creation of numerous other state and local programs. Massachusetts developed a pilot program that funded green building projects and established the groundwork for institutionalizing green schools in the Commonwealth. In 2002, the governor of New Jersey signed an Executive Order calling for all new school buildings to incorporate the guidelines of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system. These and other efforts are described in detail in ELI’s 2003 report, Building Healthy, High Performance Schools.

In addition to these activities, the last few years have seen a wave of new state policies in this area. Since 2005 many states have enacted policies that establish requirements, provide incentives, or create new comprehensive guidance for building healthy, high performance schools. The following are brief descriptions of these state laws, executive orders and other formal policies. Watch for updates to this page as new state policies are established.