Green Ribbon Schools Resource Guide
This guide has been complied to help assist with specific questions that are on the Green Ribbon application. It is provided to assist with resources in determining your answers to some questions and Pillars. If you prefer an Adobe PDF Version of this page is available here.
Q CC1: Is your school participating in a nationally recognized green school program which asks you to benchmark progress in some fashion (for example, USGBC LEED for Schools, Green Globes, Project Learning Tree's Green Schools, or National Wildlife Federation Eco-Schools USA)?
Q CC2: Has your school, staff or student body received any awards for environmental or sustainability stewardship/action?
US Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools http://www.centerforgreenschools.org/home.aspx
Earth Day Network’s Green Schools Program
http://edu.earthday.org/
Green School Alliance Green
http://www.greenschoolsalliance.org/
National Wildlife Federation’s Eco-Schools USA
http://www.nwf.org/Global-Warming/School-Solutions/Eco-Schools-USA.aspx
Collaborative for High Performance Schools CHPS Recognition Programs
http://www.chps.net/dev/Drupal/node/211
Project Learning Tree’s
http://pltgreenschools.org/
Pillar 1: Reduced Environmental Impact
Q 1A3: Has your school constructed a new building or renovated an existing building in the past ten years?
EPA’s Guidelines for Energy Management
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=guidelines.guidelines_index
Q 1A5: Please indicate which green building practices your school is using to ensure your building is energy efficient.
EPA’s Guidelines for Energy Management = Same as above
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=guidelines.guidelines_index
Q 1A5: Please indicate which green building practices your school is using to ensure your building is energy efficient.
EPA’s Portfolio Manager
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=evaluate_performance.bus_portfoliomanager
Q 1A5: Please indicate which green building practices your school is using to ensure your building is energy efficient.
DOE’s Purchasing Specifications for Energy Efficient Products
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/technologies/eep_purchasingspecs.html
Q 1A6: Has your school received EPA ENERGY STAR certification or does it meet the requirements for ENERGY STAR certification?
DOE and EPS’s Energy Star for K-12 Districts
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=k12_schools.bus_schoolsk12
Q 1A7: Has your school reduced its total non-transportation energy use from an initial baseline?
EPS’s Portfolio Manager
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=evaluate_performance.bus_portfoliomanager
Q 1A7: Has your school reduced its total non-transportation energy use from an initial baseline?
DOE’s Better Building Manager
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/betterbuildings/
Q 1A7: Has your school reduced its total non-transportation energy use from an initial baseline?
ASHRAE’s Energy Design: K-12 Schools
http://www.ashrae.org/publications/page/aedg50pct
Q 1A8: What percentage of your school's energy is obtained from: On-site renewable energy generation (i.e. solar, wind, biomass) or Purchased renewable energy
State Incentives for Renewable Energy database
http://www.dsireusa.org/
Q 1A9: Can your school demonstrate a reduction in its Greenhouse Gas emissions?
Clean Air Cool Planet’s Campus Carbon Calculator
http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/toolkit/inv-calculator.php
Q 1B1: What percentage of your students walk, bike, bus, or carpool (2 + student in the car) to/from school?
Carpool to School
https://www.carpooltoschool.com/Home.aspx
Q 1B3: Which of the following policies or programs has your school implemented:
- Our school has designated carpool parking stalls.
- Our school has a well-publicized no idling policy that applies to all vehicles (including school buses).
- Vehicle loading/unloading areas are at least 25 feet from building air intakes, doors, and windows.
- Our school has established Safe Pedestrian Routes to school which are distributed to parents and posted in our office.
- Our school promotes bike/ped programs.
- Our school participates in a "Safe Routes to School" program.
EPA’s Clean School Bus USA
http://epa.gov/cleanschoolbus/index.htm
DOT’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety
http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/
Safe Routes to Schools
http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/
Q 1B4: Describe how your school transportation use is efficient and environmentally benign (e.g. the percentage of school-owned electric/hybrid/alternative fuel vehicles in your fleet, or other indicators of significant reductions in emissions).
Collaborative for High Performance Schools’ Transportation Plan
http://www.chps.net/dev/Drupal/node/516
Q 1C1: Can you demonstrate a reduction in your school's total water consumption (measured in gallons/occupant) from an initial baseline?
EPA’s Energy Star Benchmarking Kit
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=evaluate_performance.bus_portfoliomanager_benchmarking
Q 1C2: Which of the following practices does your school employ to increase water efficiency and ensure water quality?
EPA’s Watersense Outdoor water use
http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/pubs/outdoor.html
Q 1C3: Our school's drinking water comes from:
EPA’S Drinking Water In Schools
http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/drinkingwater/schools/index.cfm
Q 1D1: What percentage of solid waste is diverted from landfilling or incinerating due to reuse, recycling and/or composting (i.e. Recycling Rate)?
EPA’S Wastewise Re-TRAC
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/partnerships/wastewise/retrac.htm
EPA’s Tools to Reduce Waste in Schools
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/education/toolkit.htm
Waste Free Lunches
http://www.wastefreelunches.org/what-is-a-waste-free-lunch-program.html
Q 1D4: Which of the following benchmarks has your school implemented to minimize and safely manage hazardous waste?
- Our school has a hazardous waste policy for storage, management, and disposal that is actively enforced.
- Our school disposes of unwanted computer and electronic products through an approved recycling facility or program.
- All our computer purchases are Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) certified products.
- Our custodial program has been certified to the Green Seal Standard for Commercial and Institutional Cleaning Services (GS-42), the ISSA Cleaning Industry Management Standard - Green Building or an equivalent standard.
CDC’s Hazardous Waste Checklist
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2004-101/chklists/n41was~1.htm
EPA’s Design for the Environment
http://www.epa.gov/dfe/pubs/projects/formulat/formpart.htm
EPEAT
http://www.epeat.net/who-are-you/purchaser/governmentinstitutional/
Green Seals Institutional Cleaning Services Standard
http://www.greenseal.org/GreenBusiness/Standards.aspx?vid=ViewStandardDetail&cid=3&sid=30
ISSA’s Cleaning Industry/Management Standards
http://www.issa.com/?id=certified_organizations&lg=
Consortium for School Networking’s Green Computing Leadership Initiative
http://www.cosn.org/Default.aspx?TabId=4110
Q 1D5: Does your school use "third party certified" green cleaning products?
Consumer Reports Ecolabels
http://www.greenerchoices.org/eco-labels/
Green Seal’s Green Cleaning Products
http://www.greenseal.org/FindGreenSealProductsandServices.aspx?vid=ViewProductDetail&cid=16
Ecologo’s Cleaning and Janitorial Products
http://www.ecologo.org/en/certifiedgreenproducts/category.asp?category_id=21&cat=1
EPA’s Schools Chemical Cleanout Campaign
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/partnerships/sc3/index.htm
Pillar 2: Healthy School Environments
RESOURCES: Many of the questions under Pillar Two can be better understood and answered by using EPA’s: Healthy Schools Environments Assessment Tool
http://www.epa.gov/schools/healthyseat/index.html
Q 2A1: Which of the following practices does your school employ with regards to pest management?
- Our school has an integrated pest management plan in place to reduce and/or eliminate pesticides.
- Pest control policies, methods of application, and posting requirements are provided to parents and school employees.
- Copies of pesticide labels, copies of notices, MSDS and annual summaries of pesticide applications are all available and in an accessible location.
- Our school prohibits children from entering a treated area for at least 8 hours after the treatment or longer if required by the pesticide label.
EPA’s IPM for Schools http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/ipm/index.htm
Beyond Pesticides Model School Policy
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/schools/models/Model_Local_School_Policy.pdf
2A2: Which of the following practices does your school employ to improve contaminant control and ventilation? (Please check all that apply)
- Our school has a comprehensive indoor air quality management program that is consistent with EPA's Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Tools for Schools.
- Our school meets ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2010 (Ventilation for acceptable indoor air quality).
- Our school has installed one or more energy recovery ventilation systems to bring in fresh air while recovering the heating or cooling from the conditioned air.
- Our school has eliminated mercury-containing thermometers, chemical compounds, art chemicals, etc. and elemental mercury.
- Our school disposes of any unwanted mercury laboratory chemicals, thermometers and other devices in accordance with federal, state, and local environmental regulations.
- Our school has CO alarms that meet the requirements of the National Fire Protection Association code 720.
- There are no wood structures on school grounds that contain chromate copper arsenate.
- Our school has an asthma management program that is consistent with the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program's (NAEPP) Asthma Friendly Schools guidelines.
- Our school visually inspects all structures on a monthly basis to ensure they are free of mold, moisture, and water leakage.
- Our school's indoor relative humidity is maintained below 60%.
- Our school has moisture resistant materials/protective systems installed (ie. flooring, tub/shower, backing, and piping).
- Our school has a chemical management program that includes: chemical purchasing policy (low or no-VOC products), storage and labeling, training and handling, hazard communication, spills (clean up and disposal), and selecting EPA's Design for the Environment approved cleaning products.
- Our school prohibits smoking on campus and in public school buses.
- All of the ground contact classrooms at our school have been tested for radon within the last 24 months.
- If your school has combustion appliances, is there an inventory of them and are they annually inspected to ensure they are not releasing Carbon Monoxide? (yes/no/no combustion appliances)
EPA’s Air Quality Tools for Schools
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/index.html
EPA’s Schools and Mercury
http://www.epa.gov/mercury/schools.htm
EPA’s Managing Asthma in Schools
http://www.epa.gov/asthma/school-based.html
CDC’s Making Your School Asthma-Friendly school
http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/asthma/creatingafs/#tools
EPA’s Mold Remediation in Schools
http://www.epa.gov/mold/mold_remediation.html
CDC’s School Tobacco Use Prevention Guidelines
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00026213.htm
EPA’s Radon Information
http://www.epa.gov/radon/index.html
Q 2B1: Which practices does your school employ to promote nutrition, physical activity and overall school health?
USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge
http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/healthierus/index.html
USDA’s Farm to school Program
http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/F2S/Default.htm
Green Schools Initiative’s Green Food Service
http://www.greenschools.net/display.php?uid=58&modin=54
Edible School Yard Project
http://www.edibleschoolyard.org/
The President’s Challenge
http://www.presidentschallenge.org/
The First Lady’s Let’s Move!
http://www.letsmove.gov/
EPA’s Sunrise Program
http://www.epa.gov/sunwise/
Pillar 3: Environmental and Sustainability Education
Q 3A2: Which practices does your school employ to help ensure the environmental and sustainability literacy of your graduates?
North American Association for Environmental Education’s Guidelines for Learning (K-12)
http://eelinked.naaee.net/n/guidelines/topics/Excellence-in-EE-Guidelines-for-Learning-K-12
Green Education Foundation’s Curriculum Clearinghouse
http://www.greeneducationfoundation.org/index.php?option=com_sobi2&Itemid=567
Q 3A3: If your school serves grades 9-12, please provide the following information:
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Advanced Placement’s Environmental Science
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/sub_envsci.html
Q 3B1: Do your school's science courses frequently use sustainability and the environment as a context for learning science (such as asking questions, developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, using mathematics and computational thinking, constructing explanations, and engaging in argument from evidence when exploring environmental and sustainability issues)?
State Education & Environment Roundtable (SEER)
http://www.seer.org/
Q 3B5: If your school is a high school, does your school curriculum make connections between classroom and college and career readiness, in particular post-secondary options in environmental and sustainability fields?
Sample Green CTE Course
http://www.k12.wa.us/EnvironmentSustainability/Curriculum/OutlineCTEGreenSustainableDesignandTechCourse.pdf
Q 3C1: Do students conduct an age-appropriate, self-selected, civic/community engagement project at every grade level?
Sample Civic Engagement Skills Assessment
http://s3.amazonaws.com/usp_site_uploads/resources/166/Assessment_Tool_for_the_Green_Ribbon_Schools.pdf