What do the design features of the building tell us about the building’s relationship to nature or natural systems?  Children learn about their relationship to ecological systems and to sustainable practices through the buildings they spend time in.  Children spend about eight hours a day inside schools...what are we teaching them through our architectural and infrastructure choices?

Green Schools are a tool to help teach children ecological principles: 

• Matter cycles continually through the web of life.
• Most of the energy driving the ecological cycles flows from the sun.
• Diversity assures resilience.
• One species’ waste is another species’ food.
• Life did not take over the planet by combat but by networking, everything is connected.

Each of the following qualities can be highlighted in  Green Schools through interactive displays and interpretation:  Air quality, light, water, overall design materials, food, energy, waste, green space.

We will review Green Schools that have used design principles as teaching devices, including the new Brunswick Elementary School. 

We will air a clip from On the Wing: The Documentary of Portland, Oregon's Chapman Swifts in celebration of the chimney swift restoration at the new Brunswick Elementary School. 

Presenters

Cindy Thomashow:  Cindy is the Executive Director of the Center for Environmental Studies at Unity College in Unity, Maine.  She is also faculty at Antioch University.  Cindy has taught environmental studies for decades and is a passionate advocate for green schools as a teaching tool.  Cindy serves on the boards of the Maine Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council and Maine Audubon.

Alan Kuniholm:  Alan is a Principal at PDT Architects in Portland. Alan is known as an advocate for sustainable design and for his extraordinary design and drawing skills.  His specialties include design of educational buildings, including the new Brunswick Elementary School, auditoriums, and courthouses, municipal planning and adaptive reuse of historic structures.  Alan is a past Board Member of the Maine Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council.