QA Graphics names Nichols School as the winner of their Showcase Your School’s Green Efforts contest. QA Graphics is awarding Nichols with an Power Efficiency Education Dashboard to educate students concerning the school’s sustainable initiatives.
ANKENY, IA, June 24, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ — QA Graphics, a provider of educational solutions for green buildings, is proud to announce Nichols School as the winner of their Showcase Your School’s Green Efforts contest. QA Graphics will award the school with an Energy Efficiency Education Dashboard that can be used to educate students, parents and also the community about the school’s sustainable initiatives.
This spring QA Graphics held the Showcase Your School’s Green Efforts contest, calling sixth to twelfth-grade schools nationwide to share what steps have already been taken to green their school, and is rewarding Nichols School for their sustainable efforts. QA Graphics worked using the national U.S. Green Developing Council (USGBC) to reach out to state USGBC chapters for contest assistance and judging of the entries. Then the public cast their vote to name the final winner – Nichols School in Buffalo, New York.
The Energy Efficiency Education Dashboard (EEED) is an interactive educational display employed to showcase an organization’s green initiatives. It might be incorporated into the school’s curriculum, using interactive demonstrations, quizzes, photos and environmental ideas to provide education about sustainable characteristics and how those characteristics support the environment. Plus, the content material could be edited, to ensure that the school can continue to make use of the EEED in their curriculum as the school’s sustainable initiatives grow.
“We received entries from schools all across the country telling us about their sustainable efforts,” stated Dan McCarty, president of QA Graphics. “We’re excited to develop an Power Efficiency Education Dashboard for Nichols; the school has implemented a number of sustainable efforts and this interactive tool will enable Nichols to even further their education about the school’s sustainable initiatives.”
Nichols School was chosen as the winner of the contest for their dedication to environmental responsibility, education, and sustainability. The school’s environmental efforts are organized through their Large Green Initiative, a group of administrators, staff, faculty, and students that work together to promote a green campus. Six separate buildings make up the Nichols campus, as well as a number of efforts have already been produced to update the older buildings, adding new power efficient windows, power efficient lighting and an effective heating method. The newest building, the Class of 1963 Center for Math and Science, opened in January of 2010 and was built with sustainability in mind. The new developing makes use of passive solar heating and solar lighting, with a developing management technique in location to monitor power consumption. High efficiency boilers are in place as part of the heat pump-based HVAC technique, and low-flow plumbing fixtures have been installed to decrease water consumption.
“Between preparing essays for entry into the contest, and rallying the school to vote for us as the leading finalist, the environmental program at Nichols discovered the Showcase Your School’s Green Efforts contest to be a cohesive and inspiring encounter for our community,” stated Edward Spangenthal, a senior in Nichol’s environmental studies class. “At a time when our world has unprecedented environmental challenges, Nichols is grateful for QA Graphics’ support. Undoubtedly, the Power Efficiency Education Dashboard will probably be a beneficial tool as we prepare more students to be leaders in sustainability and conservation.”
Sustainable initiatives are continued within the school’s curriculum, utilizing Intelligent board technology in every classroom and incorporating environmental education into the lesson plans. The school has also committed to decreasing their carbon footprint by continuing to create green curriculum through all of the grades and joining the Green Schools Alliance, a non-profit organization “created by schools for schools,” which works with schools worldwide to set and meet greening goals, raise environmental awareness, and empower students, faculty and staff.
“The Green Key Curriculum will permit students to gain environmental consciousness and responsibility by incorporating what they’ve learned into their everyday lives,” stated Joshua Ring, a science teacher at Nichols who worked with his environmental studies class to submit the winning entry. “Environmental awareness isn’t sufficient; we want students to truly alter their behaviors to ensure that their interactions are future-looking and responsible.”
Many outdoor characteristics add towards the campus’ sustainability. Pedestrian transportation is encouraged via improved access to public transportation stops, the addition of bicycle racks, and expanded sidewalks. The outdoor landscaping is designed with native plant materials in addition to a rain garden and green roof to partially manage storm water. A student-run composting program is also in place on the campus.
QA Graphics will function with Nichols School all through the summer to develop a custom Energy Efficiency Education Dashboard that the school can use to showcase their sustainable initiatives and further the campus’ environmental education efforts. The dashboard will display the campus’ real-time electric and water use, allowing the school to see what impact their sustainable initiatives have made, and interactive demonstrations will show how the school’s green roof, day lighting and efficient HVAC program all function. Students will also be able understand about sustainable attributes that are in place all through the campus, and test their “green” knowledge by taking an interactive quiz.
“The dashboard will permit students to actively learn math by compiling building data,” said MaryAnne Hejna, math department chair at Nichols. “Students will study how electric, water and air demands vary on a day-to-day basis along with on a seasonal cycle. Do we use a lot more power in the course of the winter? Do our demands vary more than the course of a school week? The dashboard will collect this tangible data and infuse live math into everyday classes for students to manipulate and find out from.”
More information about QA Graphics’ Power Efficiency Education Dashboard can be identified at: http://www.qagraphics.com/energy-efficiency-education-dashboard/schools.html.
