Tag Archive for: sustainable school

Why Sustainability is So Important to Us

Sustainability is one of the most common goals of every facility manager. The idea that you can implement some materials and designs that will not only stand the test of time, but greatly reduce any harmful output to our environment is what managers, designers, and architects yearn for. However, why is sustainability so important to us in the commercial facility industry? There are several answers to this question, so we’re going to explore the many benefits of sustainability and how it can help commercial facilities thrive.

The Importance of Sustainability

The overall goal of sustainability is to prevent the unnecessary depletion of our natural resources. While this may not seem like it has a correlation with your facility, it actually does. Given the various energy required to heat and light a facility, the amount of waste generated by a facility’s occupants, and the toxicity of certain cleaning products and chemicals that are used within a facility, it’s now more important than ever to make facilities and commercial buildings more sustainable. There are several ways you can set sustainable goals and achieve them. Here’s a few to help you get started:

Waste Reduction & Improved Recycling

One of the key principals of sustainability is to reduce waste and increase the ability to recycle. Since there’s finite space on the planet, there’s little room for waste. Unfortunately, we’ve got plenty of it to go around. By implementing a thorough recycling plan for your facility, you can cut a lot of disposal costs and you’ll reduce the amount of waste generated by the occupants in your facility. Properly recycling materials can actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our atmosphere.

Using Clean & Sustainable Energy

Installing solar panels on the roof of your facility has nothing but positive benefits. It significantly cuts costs on your energy bill because the energy that you’re using gets replenished every day. Depending on where your facility is located, local organizations often give incentives and tax breaks for businesses who utilize solar panels for clean and emission-free energy. Overall, solar panels pay for themselves within a matter of years, so you’re essentially cutting down on your operating costs.

Use Green Building Materials

Another way you can make your facility even more sustainable is by utilizing some green building products anywhere Sustainabilityyou can. While bamboo and hemp may be sustainable materials that can be used to build a home, it doesn’t really hold sway in a commercial facility. However, recycled plastic, like HDPE (high-density polyethylene), can certainly be used inside your facility to help add to the sustainability efforts.

HDPE solid plastic has been used in commercial facilities across the country as toilet partitions, storage compartments, and even lockers in schools. It’s a solid material that doesn’t scratch, rust, crack, or dent. It’s not absorbent, so moisture and mildew won’t wear it down. HDPE plastic is very low maintenance, so it only requires a little cleaning periodically. Above everything else, it can outlast other plastic materials on the market, so you’ll cut costs by not having to replace the product frequently.

There are plenty of benefits to trying to make your facility more sustainable. It not only helps you cut operational costs with your facility, but it can help reduce the harmful effects of emissions in the environment. Do you want to learn more about how to make your facility more sustainable? Check out this free eBook, Sustainable Building Products: How to Make Your Facility Eco-Friendly from Top to Bottom, from your friends at Scranton Products.

What Is a Sustainable School?

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You may have heard the word “sustainability” a lot recently, and as a facility manager of a school, you may be wondering how you can make your school more sustainable. Many educational facilities across the country have been implementing sustainability and green plans to make their schools more eco-friendly and energy efficient. But what makes a school sustainable?

What Makes a School Sustainable?

In recent years, many organizations and schools have begun taking the necessary steps to reduce their carbon footprint though various means. The most popular route that schools have taken is with recycling. Ramping up their recycling process, and even hosting recycling-oriented events have proven successful in not only reducing waste, but also educating students on the environmental benefits of properly recycling their trash.

While recycling is effective at reducing waste and taking the necessary step toward eco-conscious practices, there are other ways that schools have made their facilities more sustainable. Cutting down on unnecessary energy by opening the windows during particularly nice days and utilizing non-toxic cleaning materials and school supplies have become popular practices. Even implementing green materials during renovations have proven to be highly effective. 

Making Your School Sustainable

Taking the necessary steps toward making your school sustainable has numerous benefits, including student health, reducing waste, conserving energy, and helping the environment. There are many different ways that you, the facility manager, can help make your school more sustainable and eco-friendly.

 

Using Green Materials

Whenever you need to renovate or remodel a portion of your school, you should implement green building materials wherever you can. Green building materials can help you use your resources and energy more efficiently. Materials like cork flooring, solar hot water heaters, and even recycled carpeting go a long way in increasing your school’s sustainability. Updating your school’s corridors with HDPE (high-density polyethylene) lockers has numerous sustainability benefits, and they even last longer than traditional lockers due to their durability and rust/mildew resistance, resulting in effective lockers that require very little maintenance.

 

Cleaning Your Air

One of the scourges of the environment is poor air quality. Unless you’re regularly testing your air, you may be dealing with poor air in your school. Touching up or completely repainting sections of your school can release VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions in your air, which over time can result in poor air quality and health complications.

 

Focusing on the Bathroom

One of the best ways that you can move your school into a greener direction is by updating your restrooms. Whenever there’s a drop in your school’s air quality, the restrooms tend to be ground zero. Due to the constant barrage of moisture and humidity, mold will sprout. If it’s on the walls and on the floor, it can be easily removed. However, mold could be inside the stalls and partitions, so you’ll need a more durable and eco-friendly replacement. Utilizing HDPE materials for your stalls will not only reduce the mold growth, but it’ll also increase the air quality of your restrooms for a long time.

Taking the necessary steps toward sustainability will not only reduce waste, but it’ll be more cost-effective and eco-friendly.

 

Want to learn more about how to make your school more sustainable? Read Sustainable Building Products: How to Make Your Facility Eco-Friendly from Top to Bottom, courtesy of Scranton Products.