The non-profit Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) recently launched an effort to develop industry-backed best practices for school modernization projects.
The Minor Renovations Program aims to fill a void of guiding criteria for school districts to use to ensure improvements meet a high-performance threshold. CHPS is assembling a coalition of interdisciplinary experts in design, performance, student health and wellness, technology, and products, along with school district leaders to:
- Develop best practices that underpin new design criteria
- Pilot improvements at schools to demonstrate their effectiveness
- Develop and demonstrate financing solutions that show how allocated funds can be more effectively used for better performance outcomes
- Create and grow a community of support for schools
Two of the country’s largest school districts, Los Angeles Unified and the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD (Harris County, Texas), will participate in the program at the outset, and more districts are expected to join in the future.
“It’s estimated that 53% of America’s public schools need to invest in repairs, renovations, and modernizations, yet upgrades are not getting done at the rate or scale needed to provide safe and productive learning environments for students,” according to a CHPS news release. “Although smaller renovation projects represent the majority of districts’ facility expenditures, a set of industry-aligned best practices does not exist to enable effective planning and implementation.”
Related Stories
Energy Efficiency | Aug 8, 2019
Florida’s first net-zero K-12 school opens
The building is distinguished by its rooftop solar array and its air-tight envelope.
K-12 Schools | Jul 15, 2019
Summer assignments: 2019 K-12 school construction costs
Using RSMeans data from Gordian, here are the most recent costs per square foot for K-12 school buildings in 10 cities across the U.S.
K-12 Schools | Jul 8, 2019
Collaborative for High Performance Schools releases 2019 Core Criteria Version 3.0 Update
The update adds credits to lower carbon footprints and to promote climate change resiliency.
Building Tech | Jun 26, 2019
Modular construction can deliver projects 50% faster
Modular construction can deliver projects 20% to 50% faster than traditional methods and drastically reshape how buildings are delivered, according to a new report from McKinsey & Co.
K-12 Schools | May 17, 2019
Tall schools, tight spaces: Giving students access to the outdoors requires considerable creativity
Verticality has some plusses, according to AEC firms that have engaged such projects recently.
K-12 Schools | Apr 25, 2019
How outdoor environments provide value to K-12 learning, health, and safety
Outdoor spaces at school offer students key opportunities to learn, problem solve, and mentally refresh.
K-12 Schools | Jan 21, 2019
Safer K-12 design: School should feel – and look – like school
In an age during which stories of bullying, school shootings, and mental health concerns are all too common, designers have a critical role to play in crafting K-12 schools that simultaneously promote engaged learning and student safety.
K-12 Schools | Nov 5, 2018
Modernizing schools is paying off in creating better learning and teaching environments
A new paper reports on a recent study of nine schools in Washington DC that gauged occupants’ perceptions.
K-12 Schools | Jul 26, 2018
K-12 market trends 2018: Common areas enable hands-on learning
Modern designs emphasize social and collaboration spaces outside the classroom.
| May 30, 2018
Accelerate Live! talk: From micro schools to tiny houses: What’s driving the downsizing economy?
In this 15-minute talk at BD+C’s Accelerate Live! conference (May 10, 2018, Chicago), micro-buildings design expert Aeron Hodges, AIA, explores the key drivers of the micro-buildings movement, and how the trend is spreading into a wide variety of building typologies.