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LEED University: Does Sustainability Affect School Selection? by Hannah Shangraw

Posted by: | May 10, 2014 Comments Off on LEED University: Does Sustainability Affect School Selection? by Hannah Shangraw |

The addition of LEED – ND in the law for public schools would help promote sustainability within communities surrounding public institutions. A law that makes public education institutions look at LEED – ND standards would not be any more inhibitive than regular LEED standards on public buildings. Beyond LEED standards for individual buildings, a public institution would need to look at how the community around the public institution would be effected by proposed changes.[xiv] Also, the law would not affect already existing buildings so the only time public institutions would have to worry about the LEED – ND standards would be when they are seeking to make changes.[xv] The changes made by a public institution already affect its community, but the LEED – ND standards as part of the law would make it so that the public institutions have to consider its effects on the community. As discussed previously with LEED standards, though private schools do not have to comply with standards set for public institutions, private institutions would probably work to match the LEED – ND standards to stay competitive with the public institutions.

Both higher education and sustainability circle back to education and looking to the future. It is natural that education and sustainability go hand in hand. Students seeking a higher education institution may be swayed in their decision if an institution focuses on sustainability. Higher education institutions promote sustainability in response to students’ desires because students are the consumer for higher education. Thus, sustainability in higher education depends upon a balance between student desires and institutional goals. Therefore, having LEED – ND as a requirement for higher education institutions would be good because the future of sustainability and sustainability education would not depend on a precarious balancing act that could disappear.

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