Best of Green Schools 2011

The Center for Green Schools, an initiative of the U.S. Green Building Council, has published the first Best of Green Schools list.

Mon, Dec 12 2011 at 9:15 AM

Related Topics:

Green Business, LEED, Education, Schools

Lake Mills Middle School Cafeteria (Wisconsin)

Photo: Miron Construction

Last year the U.S. Green Building Council, home of the LEED Rating Systems, launched a new initiative aimed at educational institutions – The Center for Green Schools. The initiative was created in order to inform educators about the benefits of sustainable, healthy and energy efficient schools. One year later the USGBC and United Technologies Corp, a founding sponsor of the initiative, have released the inaugural Best of Green Schools list.

The Best of Green Schools 2011 list recognizes top performers in 10 different categories.

Green Schools 2011 Honorees

Moment for the Movement – U.S. Department of Education, Green Ribbon Schools:
Region – Sacramento area
State – Ohio
City – Philadelphia
School – Lake Mills Middle School (Lake Mills, WI)
Higher Ed Innovator – University of Texas at Dallas
Collaborators – Kentucky Reps. Jim DeCesare (R) and Mary Lou Marzian (D)
Convener – Boston
Policy makers – District of Columbia City Council
K-12 Innovation – Public-Private partnership in Illinois

As you can see by the list, the categories aren’t your standard green building categories and the winners aren’t all schools. Although the one school that received special recognition, Lake Mills Middle School, certainly deserved it. In March 2011, the school became the first LEED Platinum certified public school in the United States.

Ohio earned accolades in the State category because it is home to 315 LEED registered and certified education-related projects with 19 schools registering this year alone. This makes Ohio the home of more green school projects than any other state in the nation.

To read more about the people, projects and schools that were named to the Best of Green Schools 2011 list, visit The Center for Green Schools website.

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