The greatest opportunity for school districts in our nation is to transform our existing schools.
With more than 133,000 schools in the U.S., the greening of existing schools presents a unique opportunityfor schools and school districts. The Center for Green Schools is here to help.
LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance was designed to help community leaders evaluate the sustainability of ongoing operations of existing buildings.
Green Existing Schools Toolkit
The Green Existing Schools Toolkit and accompanying training resources will help schools and school districts green their existing portfolio of facilities and achieve LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance certification. Included in the toolkit are a Green Existing Schools Project Management Guide (PDF) and a Green Existing Schools Implementation Workbook (PDF). These resources provide guidance, best practices, policy, and planning templates to assist school officials in seeking LEED for Existing Buildings: O&M certification, and are designed to be used in concert with additional resources contained in the Green Existing Schools Toolkit.
Pre-project Phase:
Green Existing Schools Project Management Guide (PDF)
Project teams should refer to this resource for general guidance on navigating the LEED for Existing Buildings: O&M certification process, including how to conduct personnel and organizational assessments, educate and train staff, initiate the certification process, and manage a campus- or district-wide sustainability program.
Project Assessment Phase:
LEED 2009 for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance Project Checklist (XLS)
Project teams can use the LEED Project Checklist as a scorecard to track the credits they are pursuing toward certification.
LEED 2009 for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance Rating System (PDF)
The rating system summarizes the intent, requirements, and technologies/ strategies for each credit.
Project Implementation Phase:
Green Existing Schools Implementation Workbook (PDF)
Project teams should refer to this resource to assist with the evaluation and improvement of current O&M practices and policies. The contents of the workbook include sample policies, programs, and plans; data collection forms and tables; sample surveys
; and the following worksheets created for the
Green Existing Schools Implementation Workbook (hyperlinked within PDF):
Green Building Operations and Maintenance Reference Guide, 2009 Edition (Hard Copy)
The reference guide contains detailed information on the implementation of prerequisites and credit requirements.
LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance Resources
The resource page lists current updates to the rating system, including addenda, clarifications, revisions, and any additional resources developed by USGBC to help teams accomplish certification.