The green schools law, which passed in 2005, mandates that all new schools or major school remodels in the state must follow a set of guidelines in the building's design and construction.
By talking with construction directors for different districts in the state, we've found the mandates add between 2 percent and 7 percent in costs.
The very first schools to participate received state funding to help pay for the new legislation. That's dried up.
After the first year, the state stopped funding green school mandates, but the law remains. Districts have to build the costlier green schools, and have to find a way to pay for it on their own.
School construction officials we talked to think that's unfair, especially for the poorer districts in the state.
"There's a lot of districts where there's a crying need, not for new schools, but for buckets to put under the roofs," said Pete Wall of Tacoma Public Schools. "That's the crying shame."
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2 Comments

b said:

This is irresponsible and misinformed reporting - Is this story intended to go along with the 'King 5 Environmental Beat sponsored by Weyerhauser' that reported how mudslides couldn't be correlated to clear-cutting of timber lands? Sad.

March 24, 2009 11:27 PM

seattle architect said:

As an architect I watched this report with great interest. I was shocked and amazed by two things. First, how amatuerish the reporting was. Secondly, that someone is actually questioning that these new green schools are benefitial to our children. Sure, they cost a little extra, but the return in student health (both mentally and physically) outweighs any initial investment in construction cost.

March 25, 2009 9:36 AM

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