Can a Green School Building Teach? A Pre- and Post-Occupancy Evaluation of a Teaching Green School Building

Abstract

Amid increasing interests in social metrics within green buildings, this work focuses on buildings designed to enhance environmental education, here called “Teaching Green Buildings” (TGBs). This study examines one school building at three points in time before and after the move into a new construction TGB. Middle school students here and at a local, comparison Non-Green School ( N = 264) took a survey measuring outcomes of green building knowledge (GBK) and environmentally responsible behaviors (ERBs). Regression results showed that GBK is significantly higher for students in the Green School compared with the Non-Green School, but is not increasing over time for students at the Green School. No differences were detected in ERBs across schools or time, and it was found that school practices, more than the green building itself, were pivotal in student choices to conduct ERBs at school.

Green Building, Green Behavior? An Analysis of Building Characteristics that Support Environmentally Responsible Behaviors

“…This research has important implications for the design of residence halls and other buildings to support ERBs among building occupants. Previous research on the effects of inhabiting a green versus a conventional building on occupants’ ERBs have yielded mixed results (Cole & Hamilton, 2019; Runhaar et al, 2019; Watson et al, 2015; 2017; Wu et al, 2013) and this research adds to this complex narrative. The results of this study do not demonstrate that students living in green residence halls engaged in superior ERBs than students living in non-green residence halls.…”

“…The results demonstrated that though students living in green dorms reported higher ERBs while in residence, there was no durable change in behavior that differentiated students who had lived in the green dorm from students who had not 3 years earlier. Similarly, in a longitudinal study in two green middle schools, ERBs at school were not significantly different after students moved into a new green building, and no differences were found between the green and non-green schools (Cole & Hamilton, 2019). A recent study of eco-schools in the Netherlands broadly defines the situational context as a combination of supportive social norms and other consistent pro-environmental cues in the environment, including a specific focus on features in green buildings that facilitate the performance of ERBs and explicit messages intended to stimulate ERBs (Runhaar et al, 2019).…”

“…Declarative knowledge about environmental issues and related consequences are included in a number of prominent behavior change models (Ajzen, 1991;Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980;Hines et al, 1987;Kaiser & Fuhrer, 2003). In addition, recent research examining the role of the situational context of green buildings for supporting ERB has identified a connection between occupants' awareness of green building features and ERB within the green building context (Cole & Hamilton, 2019). While it is often assumed that a person committed to environmental causes must be motivated by a deep commitment to protecting the natural world, a wide variety of values and motivations have been shown to support and emerge from participating in ERBs (De Young, 1996;De Young et al, 1993;Der-Karabetian et al, 2018;Grese et al, 2000;Jagers & Matti, 2010;McFarland et al, 2019;Ryan et al, 2001;Stern, 2000).…”

From Green-Campus Campaign Intervention to Environmental Education in a Teaching College

“…During the process of greening the camps a set of various 'visible actions' have been implemented on campus. These actions that have higher visibility aspects, can have an educational or behavioural impact that has been framed as "atmospherics" (Cole & Hamilton 2019;Wu, DiGiacomo, Lenkic, Wong, & Kingstone, 2016). The findings revealed that most of the participants in this research (75.4% post vs. 21.8% pre) noticed that the college operates in a more sustainable manner (a nearly 3.5-fold increase).…”

Exploring elementary student energy literacy outcomes in the outdoor classroom : a comparative study

“…Teaching green buildings (TGB) refer to premises that were designed and constructed to increase users' knowledge, attitude, and behavior about the environment (Cole & Hamilton, 2019) by supporting both formal and informal types of environmental education (Cole, 2015). Green features of TGBs were designed to increase the users' enthusiasm knowing about these features and enhance their engagement in the performance of these features (Cole, 2014).…”