CHPS Criteria Introduced in Texas, Colorado
SAN FRANCISCO — An initiative developed in California that sets standards for the design and construction of new energy-efficient schools could now set guidelines in Colorado and Texas.
Criteria for the Collaboration for High Performance Schools program, an assessment tool to evaluate state-specific design goals for environmentally friendly school construction, was recently introduced in both states. CHPS standards have already been adapted in New York, Massachusetts, Washington, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
The CHPS board of directors voted to approve the Texas criteria in February. Since the regulations are unique to every state, the Texas-based advisory committee that set the standards faced challenges when adjusting the criteria to the varying climate zones in the state.
The committee also adjusted the points system so credits that increased energy performance and improved student health were given more weight.
“Building more energy-efficient schools will safeguard the air our kids breath and the education dollars on which they rely,” says Mike Villarreal, a Texas state representative who has written a law to provide incentives for building environmentally sustainable schools.
“The new Texas-CHPS system gives us another tool for promoting greener schools,” he says.
As of press time, Colorado’s CHPS standards were open for public review. The state-specific criteria were created by a Colorado-based committee of school design and construction experts and the governor’s energy office.
“The Colorado CHPS committee has developed a tool that enables K-12 schools and districts to design and build energy-efficient, high performing schools,” says Tom Plant, director of the Energy Office. “The CO-CHPS criteria sets a new standard for energy performance and will help schools reduce operating costs, conserve resources and provide healthy and productive environments for students and staff.”
Schools that seek the CO-CHPS designation have to perform 25 percent better than the ASHRAE 90.1-2007 baseline for efficiency and enact enhanced commissioning measures, according to state officials.
The state has set up a Web site where the public can download and comment on the new regulations. The first public review and comments are due by March 30. Schools will be able to use CO-CHPS once the review is complete and the CHPS Board of Directors approves the criteria.
The CHPS program was created in response to California’s energy crisis, when energy rates rose significantly and rolling blackouts were necessary. During the crisis, the California Energy Commission collaborated with the state’s energy providers to come up with ways to improve energy performance of schools.