Green and Healthy Schools for Massachusetts

Massachusetts school buildings may get healthier and less polluting if the Massachusetts legislature incorporates green and healthy school standards for renovations and rehabilitation of existing school buildings and construction of new schools.

According to K-12 Undaunted, Massachusetts 2800 school buildings have 186 million square feet of building area. The estimated operational emissions from school buildings alone contribute 880,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually in the Commonwealth.

This week, Environment Massachusetts signed onto a letter urging state lawmakers to include of Green and Healthy Schools in the final climate bill they aim to pass.

“Every school built without incorporating green & healthy school criteria is a missed opportunity to reduce the pollution that’s warming our planet and making kids sick,” said Environment Massachusetts director Ben Hellerstein.