Voa education report - Green' Schools Grow Around US

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is the VOA Special English Education Report. In Alexandria, , the two thousand students at TC.. Williams High School classes last month in a new building. It was as a "green" school based on requirements from the States Green Building Council. The council is a nonprofit made up of building industry leaders. It has a system for buildings called Leadership in Energy and Environmental , or LEED. In two thousand one, there were four asking for LEED certification. Now there are four hundred, TC.. Williams. So far, fifty-eight schools have been recognized meeting the requirements. These include protecting natural areas and the amount of chemicals in building materials. They also better lighting and improved indoor air quality. Buildings are rated on how well they use energy and water, on things like the use of recycling programs. At .. Williams, one example of green design can be seen the many windows that let in natural light. Students the sunny rooms help them stay awake during class. rooftop garden is designed to provide stormwater control and keep the building cool in the sun. And an tank can store one million seven hundred thousand liters rainwater for air conditioning and other systems. The new cost about ninety million dollars to build. It stands to the old TC.. Williams building, which officials say slowly be taken apart and recycled. TC.. Williams High is still waiting for the final part of the certification process. Schools receive points for the number of they meet. Buildings are rated silver, gold or platinum. the country, concerns about limited budgets for public schools lead to objections to investing in green schools. But Green Building Council points to a report by Capital , a Washington, DC.., company that serves the clean energy . Capital E examined the cost of thirty green schools the United States. It says the average cost was two percent higher compared to a traditional school. And says this extra cost is small compared to the over time from lower energy and water costs and students. And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, by Dana Demange. To learn more about American schools, to voaspecialenglishcom.. I'm Jim Tedder.

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