CPS green building projects attract national attention

Cincinnati City Council's Quality of Life Committee received an update Tuesday on Cincinnati Public Schools' progress on its facilities master plan. This system-wide construction and renovation project has garnered national attention, not only for its scope but also for its emphasis on green building. The project's 23 LEED certified or registered schools have CPS on track to be one of the nation's most environmentally sustainable school systems, and is playing a key role in some of Cincinnati's key goals, said council member and committee chair Laure Quinlivan.

"The most important thing [council] can do as politicians is try to get more people and businesses into the community. One of the big questions I hear again and again is, 'how are the schools?'" she said. "The better our schools, the more people we retain in our urban core."

CPS Director of Facilities Planning and Construction Michael Burson reported that the project has completed construction and renovation on 36 of its 51 planned and current schools. Ten more are under construction, and five are in various stages of the construction bidding process.

But the master plan, which was initially approved in 2002, is already showing results, he noted. The biggest change comes from 'right sizing' the system, he said.

"We were operating 80 schools, a legacy of the 90,000 students we had in the 60s," he said. "A lot of the old buildings didn't consume a lot of energy, but they were not that functional and their environment wasn't that great.

"The master plan, he explained, changed in 2007 to mandate LEED Silver certification or better, meaning that CPS would had the potential to become one of the greenest school districts in the nation. Burson reported at the meeting that CPS has already achieved a number of noteworthy marks, including the first LEED Silver certified school in the state (Pleasant Ridge Montessori). And the sustainable construction is more than a bragging point; he explained that CPS is on track to operate its upgraded facilities - complete with new technology, security features and modern air conditioning - for the same cost per square foot it spent to operate the outdated, inefficient schools with a fraction of the amenities.

"I was really surprised at all I heard CPS is doing," said Quinlivan. "They're really on the cutting edge of facilities, and it's great for students to be in buildings that are healthy as well as new."

Burson went a step further, noting that the green building features are becoming a hands-on part of curricula throughout the system. And therein, he said, lies the biggest contribution CPS is making to the city through its facility upgrades. "For us, I think we're able to influence the younger generation, and we're instituting this into the culture," he said.

Writer: Matt Cunningham