Designing the Sustainable School

K-12 school construction currently represents one of the largest sectors of new construction of any building type. Considering rising energy costs and concerns for the environment, there has never been more attention focused on the need to design schools responsibly. It highlights the work that the best architects are doing to respond to those needs while still creating beautiful schools for enhanced learning. Author Alan Ford has designed more than 75 K-12 schools projects, and with a longstanding commitment to sustainability and a passion for architecture, he is perfectly positioned to present this illuminating collection of sustainable school projects from around the world.This colorful book is a compendium of ideas illustrating how some very talented architects and committed facility planners are meeting the challenge of creating better schools for the 21st century. They are creating schools that are eco-friendly, embody high-performance design principles, are rich in architectural character, and enhance the health and well-being of students and teachers.The projects represent a wide range of design solutions, aesthetics, location, and scale, ranging in size from the Aga Khan Award - winning three-room schoolhouse in Burkina Faso to the 2500-student, 260,000-square-foot high school in Santa Ana, California. Each of the 45 featured projects is presented with an overview of the components of the high-performance 'tool kit' employed by the architects to achieve sustainable design goals. Collectively, these demonstrate the breadth of tools that today's architects can employ to build a sustainable future for our children.