Consulting-Specifying Engineer - August 2008 - (Page 16) In The News Four-day school week will offer financial relief for several school districts four-day school week, born out of Utah’s mandated four-day work week, may prove to be the financially smart response to soaring fuel prices. Eliminating one day of school, in order to preserve educational programs and qualified staff members in parts of Kentucky, New Mexico, and Minnesota, has begun to outweigh some parents’ concerns about finding day care for their children. According to Marc Egan, director of federal affairs at the National School Boards Assn., “One hundred schools in as many as 16 states have already moved to a four-day school, many to save money on transportation, heating, and cooling.” Maccray public schools in Minnesota recently voted to switch to a four-day week in May 2008 in order to save 10% on transportation costs. Maccray superintendent Greg Schmidt said, “The savings A for a four-day week just on transportation alone were $65,000.” One of the pioneers of the four-day week, the Cimarron, N.M., school district is looking to cut energy costs by getting back to its roots. Cimarron Public Schools moved to a four-day week when energy prices shot up in the early 1970s, but has become more “complacent,” letting the heating and cooling systems run even on days off since the end of the OPEC oil embargo, Cimarron’s superintendent James Gallegos said. With soaring energy costs, that will no longer be the case: “As we start the next school year, it’s going to be very minimal on the Fridays that we are off,” Gallegos said. Webster County School District in Kentucky switched to a four-day week four years ago under economic duress—a state budget crisis left the school in limbo, leaving the district with the option of dropping school days or cutting staff and programs. The district ended up saving tens of thousands of dollars in fuel and energy costs, helping to cut total costs by 3.5% to 4%, said James Kemp, superintendent of the Webster County School District. CSE is media partner for BCA conference Consulting-Specifying Engineer has formed a media alliance with the Building Commissioning Assn. (BCA) to serve as the media partner for the annual BCA Convention and Expo. The third annual event will take place Oct. 5-7, in Long Island, N.Y., at the Hyatt Regency Long Island at Wind Watch Golf Club. The technical sessions will provide practical information to commissioning providers, design engineers, building owners, and facility executives. Some of the topics that will be covered include: “Commissioning Process in the Eyes of Architects,” “Comparing Commissioning Across LEED Products,” and “Commissioning Your Communication.” First statewide green building code released he state of California recently adopted the new Green Building Code, making California the first state in the nation to develop such a policy. The new building code, adopted by the California Building Standards Commission, will be amended for publication in the 2007 California Green Building Standards Code, CCR, Title 24, Part 11. The new code calls for a 20% improvement in water use efficiency, 50% increase in water conservation, and 15% reduction in energy consumption in all new construction. The code is voluntary until 2010, when all new construction must comply. “By adopting this firstin-the-nation statewide green building code, California is again leading the way to fight climate change and protect the environment,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement. The new green building standard in California will not remain unique for long. Though California is the first state to adopt its own green code, cities such T as New York and Chicago have their own sustainability requirements, and some associations are pursuing national standards. The International Code Council (ICC) has been working with the National Assn. of Home Builders to develop a national standard for green homes, and the American National Standards Institute is working on a standard as well. The issue of a uniform compliance with other councils, agencies, and green building codes is the new task facing the states as individuals and the nation as a whole. The development of stateby-state codes, instead of a national policy, will hinder the overall process of developing more green buildings. “What California has done is not an ICC code,” said Steve Daggers, vice president of communications for the ICC, Washington, D.C. “Until something is adopted, it’s just a piece of paper.” It also should be remembered, Daggers said, that any new code is a baseline, rather than a ceiling. 16 Consulting-Specifying Engineer • AUGUST 2008
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