HMFH Architects
Sustainable Operation Strategies in School Planning & Management
In this article for School Planning & Management (now Spaces4Learning), Stephanie MacNeil discusses best practices to help school administrators advance well-intentioned sustainability goals into measurable results.
Ensuring a building’s sustainability doesn’t end with design. HMFH equips teachers, students, and building staff to understand their school’s sustainable features and operate it easily and efficiently. Read our full article, “Sustaining a Sustainable Building,” to learn about our tools and strategies.
One of the most significant factors in achieving operational success is ensuring that the occupants and users of the building know how the building works. Training for facilities staff and occupants is essential to take full advantage of the technological tools and create synergies between systems. After the school opened last September, each teacher at the Carver Elementary School, which will be certified by the Collaborative for High Performance Schools as a NE-CHPS Verified school, was given a manual outlining how the building works. The user-friendly manual covers every aspect from automatic daylight dimming and occupancy sensors within their classroom to the building’s mechanical ventilation system, which brings in dehumidified fresh air from outside.”
