Call to Action:

1. Implement and/or improve tools for effective utility management utilizing sustainable practices in public school facilities.
2. Provide feedback and impact institutional policy pertaining to sustainability at various levels of institutional, municipal, state, and federal governance.
3. Develop increased awareness of the policy landscape and relevant, current issues pertaining to energy and resource use in public school facilities.

Abstract: As temperatures increase and climate tipping points loom, the challenge remains for public institutions to plan for a changing future and implement facility management practices that address shifting energy uses and reduce carbon emissions from buildings, school buses, vehicle fleets, etc. This session will discuss a framework for developing a “best practices playbook” for sustainability and resilience planning within the context of public institutions (specifically Pre-K – 12 public education facilities), with a focus on creating equitable outcomes using policies and processes that integrate the most recent technologies and innovations to advance sustainability and energy conservation. Panelists include a public facility manager from the 35th largest public school district in the country (Albuquerque Public Schools), a senior project director of a national non-profit Clean Energy coalition (Clean Energy States Alliance), an executive of a large public utility company (PNM), and the energy services director of a large, public university (New Mexico State University).

Learning Objectives:

1. To present a playbook for creating and managing an institutional, resource conservation program with the goal of efficient design, construction, and utilization of buildings and building systems (utilities).
2. This category pertains to project management, programming and analysis, and project planning and design aimed at sustainability targets (lowered carbon emissions, utilities’ efficiencies, renewables portfolios).
3. To discuss a primer of the relevant issues around renewables, utility usage, and best practices relevant to school facilities, and that specifically apply to economies of scale and public institutions.
4. To focus project planning and design, showcasing several examples of renewable facilities’ construction and development.
5. To build awareness of school facilities’ issues that impact sustainability and and how program implementation improves health, safety, and welfare of occupants, visitors, and other user groups.