The Sustainable Roofscape Learning Lab
The BLS Green Roof Initiative
The Oldest School, The Newest Thinking: Education for Sustainability
Overview: The project is part of a larger Greening BLS effort that aims to green the oldest school in the country and share it with other schools state-wide. Youth CAN students have developed a comprehensive plan that entails an energy model and action plan, an Education for Sustainability Campaign (EfS) and curriculum pilot, and a green roof. Each component, because it will be shared on the Youth CAN website and promoted via the YC member group network, supports ambitious educational goals set by students, including energy reductions, student activism, and the creation of outdoor learning space on an urban rooftop with the long-term capacity for engaging students and educators in learning that will instill a sense of stewardship for our shared planet and by cultivating important understandings about sustainability. The Sustainable Roofscape Learning Lab proposes varieties of vegetation, green technologies, a green house, and outdoor classrooms in an intentional “Whitman’s sampler” of green roof features allowing students to collect and consider comparative data as a means of engaging with the big ideas of sustainability. The effort arose in response to an energy audit and action plan that BLS Youth CAN students arranged. The project proposes sweeping changes to the schools’ physical plant and engages numerous partners, including schools and community youth organizations to help develop and implement programs aimed at ensuring that the roofscape learning lab, curricular materials, data sets, and green changes from the audit will benefit classrooms across Massachusetts.
The Sustainable Roofscape Learning Lab itself represents a multi-phase effort to transform an urban school roof (at the oldest school in the country) into 80,000 sf of natural learning environment replicating such New England microclimates as a small orchard, meadow, and woodland area interspersed with outdoor classrooms for interdisciplinary use. It will allow students to grow produce for the cafeteria in a greenhouse; conduct inquiry-based learning about CO2 exchange, rain acidity, wind, and solar power; track reduced carbon, storm water, and heat island effects; and study the flora and fauna attracted to the roof. We are also looking into generating energy with a composting program. The roofscape will be fully equipped with state of the art data collection devices. There will even be a contemplative space, dubbed "Giverny at BLS", that will be suitable for Art and language arts classes where students could write or sketch.
The project provides onsite opportunities for hands-on outdoor learning (none currently exist) integrating the big ideas of sustainability into daily experience. Students raised funds, introduced designs to BLS, and oversaw a Phase I tray installation in a light court that is now visible from hallways in order to raise awareness in the building about the project. Youth CAN students have engaged faculty and parent partners to work with them on the project, as well as creating a Youth CAN Advisory Board. Youth CAN students are currently working to engage BLS science students in a one-year baseline data collection program on the roof. Youth CAN is also taking steps to establish a Farm to School and greenhouse program and are seeking to possibly partner with the Food Project to provide summer programming for Boston youth using the Sustainable Roofscape.
Multiple School Use The entire roofscape is designed such that other Massachusetts schools will be able to access and use the roofscape, both by means of actual visits to the roofscape in the form of field trips, as well as via virtual tours of the roofscape through the use of web cams. Offsite schools will engage with the roofscape itself as well as with data sets generated by the roofscape, curriculum generated for the roofscape, and student generated models designed to encourage and promote faculty implementation and integration of roofscape curriculum and data sets.
Interdisciplinary Education for Sustainability Curriculum
Curriculum will be developed for use in conjunction with the Roofscape Learning Lab to engage students in place-based, inquiry and learning. The curriculum will be combined in an Education for Sustainability pilot that will encompass teaching well beyond the science related to the data collected on the roofscape. It will, across disciplines seek to engage students in learning for sustainability. For example the idea of the interdependence and interrelatedness of systems will be emphasized in an economics class studying systems, by exploring the relationships between economic systems, social systems and natural systems using the sustainable roofscape learning lab. Access to the natural systems on the roof will provide extensive opportunities to increase student skills in the large-scale systems thinking that future leaders and problem-solvers will need. All curriculum developed for the pilot will be fully aligned to National Education for Sustainability Standards http://www.uspartnership.org as well as Massachusetts Frameworks and standards for the particular content areas.
Summer Institute on Education for Sustainability 2010
Curriculum for Youth CAN’s Massachusetts Education for Sustainability Campaign pilot will be developed by educators during a week-long summer institute on education for sustainability for educators that is being offered in the summer of 2010 at Simmons College (July 19 - 23). The institute is being hosted by BLS Youth CAN and Sarah Mills, a coordinator on behalf of the Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation (CELF) and will feature training led by educational specialists from CELF http://www.celfeducation.org
IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION ON TEACHING AND LEARNING
According to the State Education and Environmental Roundtable (SEER), when used as an integrating theme across the curriculum, environmental education has a measurably positive impact on student achievement in science, math, reading and social studies. Research (Lieberman and Hoody 1998) has shown that using the environment as an integrating context for learning improves:
♣student engagement and enthusiasm (98% of teachers reporting)
♣behavior (70% of teachers reporting)
♣standardized test scores (77% of teachers reporting)
On average, each educator trained at the Institute will reach over 125 students in a single school year, enabling EfS knowledge and tools gained to impact thousands of students annually. As teachers implement the lesson plans and curricula developed at the Institute for many years to come, the support given to CELF’s Summer Institute will continue to have a multiplicative effect.
Summer Institute participants will be introduced to existing sustainability curricula and trained how to rework or create their own.
Interdisciplinary Education for Sustainability Pilot Boston Latin School will pilot the interdisciplinary curriculum developed for the Roofscape Learning Lab at the Summer Institute during the 2010/2011 school year.
Curriculum Pilot Evaluation
During implementation of the new curricula developed at the Boston SI, quantitative and qualitative data will be gathered from teachers and their students. This external evaluation, following North American Association for Environmental Education guidelines, assesses students’ knowledge of and interest in sustainability-related content before and after a lesson, compared with a control group not exposed to the unit. The impact of teachers' use of evidence-based instructional practices will also be assessed through observation, pre/post interview and other methods.
Promotion of the Pilot - BLS Youth CAN will document the success of the pilot at Boston Latin School, and using the Massachusetts Education for Sustainability Campaign launched by Youth CAN in 2009, (MEfSC - click on this link for more information about Youth CAN’s Massachusetts Education for Sustainability Campaign). The campaign will seek to have additional Boston Public Schools implement the EfS pilot in 2011/12, subsequently seeking to have the pilot implemented district-wide. The ultimate goal of the MEFSC is to encourage the state, by means of a series of public hearings, to adopt Youth CAN’s EfS curriculum pilot in Massachusetts (click here for national EfS standards).
BLS Youth CAN/Youth Partnerships - BLS Youth CAN has formed several partnerships with area youth to ensure that structures are in place to encourage offsite schools to use the roofscape, data sets and curriculum.
a. Boston Latin Academy - partnership between BLS Youth CAN students and BLA students to develop a Faculty Engagement model aimed at getting faculty to use EFS curriculum and facilities.
b. Codman Academy - partnership between BLS and Codman students to develop model for use of data sets generated by the Sustainable Roofscape Learning Lab by offsite schools.
http://sites.google.com/site/codmanccan/Home
c. Dorchester Bay Youth Force - partnership between BLS Youth CAN students and Youth Force students to develop "greening our curriculum" school-based student committees to promote the roll out of the EFS curriculum (committees will use the Faculty Engagement model developed above). https://gotchayouthjobs.org/programs/youth-force
d. The Food Project - partnership for summer programming with Boston youth using the sustainable roofscape learning lab. http://thefoodproject.org/
Environmental Impact: Changes to the Physical Plant & Changes in Behavior
From an environmental standpoint the BLS sustainable roofscape will reduce and absorb harmful rainwater that normally ends up as runoff, often over-taxing the city sewer system. Since Youth CAN’s energy audit revealed that BLS has an energy efficiency rating of 20, well below the national average of 50 for public buildings, the green roof will also be significant for improving the school’s carbon footprint as well as improving air quality for the area. In addition it will substantially reduce the heat island effect that typically effect urban areas such as the one where the school is located. The roofscape will generate energy in numerous ways (solar, solar thermal, wind, etc.). Food grown in the greenhouse will contribute to healthier eating habits among students. Of course the greatest impact will come from the learning opportunities the roofscape will provide. The wealth of hand-on inquiry based learning the Roofscape Learning Lab will generate will enable students in the BLS community and beyond to gain critical understandings about the need for shifts towards more sustainable behaviors that will have lasting repercussions.
Educational Impact
The Boston Latin School Sustainable Roofscape Lab proposes bringing opportunities for place-based education to Boston Latin School by adding vegetation, green technologies, a green house, and outdoor learning space on an urban rooftop in the heart of downtown Boston, just a few blocks from Fenway Park. The roofscape learning lab will accomplish ambitious educational goals set by student leaders of the Boston Youth Climate Action Network who initiated and are directing this project. It will create an outdoor learning space with a long-term capacity to engage students, staff and the larger BLS community in developing a lasting appreciation and sense of responsibility for the natural environment, while cultivating understandings about the complex relationships, behaviors, and habits of mind that contribute to living sustainably on a planet with natural limits.
Exporting the Learning Opportunities
BLS Youth CAN’s intent is that educators in schools across Massachusetts will use the curriculum we develop. Students in classes at other schools will make field trips to the roofscape, work with the rooftop data sets BLS students collect and post, and schools will follow some of the steps we took in our greening process. That's why we have a plan in place to document all of our steps and make them available on the BLS Youth CAN website. The online postings will provide specific guidelines for integrating similar service learning projects at other schools and make it possible for schools to envision the concrete steps they might take in shifting towards a greener campus and incorporating education for sustainability curriculum. We will also post all of the steps we are taking to implement a Greening BLS Action Plan that has been developed in response to a recent energy audit that Youth CAN arranged through NSTAR.
Boston Latin School: Leadership for Green Change and Education In Massachusetts and Beyond
As the oldest school in America, greening BLS has the potential not only to save energy and reduce CO2, but also to serve as a powerful example and inspiration. The Sustainable Roofscape Learning Lab will illustrate in a highly visible way how green projects can and should be incorporated into even our oldest institutions and learning systems. It has the power to become a model for green innovation and integrating education for sustainability, offering a road map for other schools that want to make green changes, incorporate tried and tested sustainability curricula, and offer students an opportunity to work with real time data from a sustainable roofscape that they can visit and revisit via remote access video.
Partners and Partner Organizations
Studio G Architects
Northeast National Farm to School Coordinator
The Food Project and The Real Food Challenge
United Hydroponics
The Alliance For Climate Education (ACE)
The Fenway Green Roof Student Coalition
Sustainable Milton
The Technology and Culture Forum at MIT
The National Wildlife Federation
The Boston Climate Action Network
Youth Partners
Boston Latin Academy
Codman Academy
Dorchester Bay Youth Force
Project Evaluation and Sustainability
1. Objective: Provide students with ongoing leadership and collaborative opportunities, as well as a sense of ownership for the success of the Massachusetts Education for Sustainability Campaign, while enhancing the multiple relationships initiated with community partners in support of the green roof and education for sustainability campaign. Performance Measure: Document all meetings and activities with partner groups and share all products generated by posting documentation and products generated online.
2.Objective: Share all elements of the Greening Boston Latin School, Sustainable Roofscape Learning Lab and Education for Sustainability Campaign and Curriculum Pilot with educators and students across Massachusetts and beyond. Performance Measure: Online posting of all elements
3.Objective: Engage Boston students in place-based learning opportunities. Performance Measure: Document all incidents of teacher sign ups to take classes to the roofscape (BLS and non-BLS groups); recording activity students engaged in, and surveying students and teachers regarding perceived import of student learning experience
4.Objective: Promote healthier more sustainable habits with food. Performance Measure: Document the implementation of the green house and farm to school program at BLS, survey students regarding impact
5.Objective: Promote awareness of and replication of changes made in response to the BLS Energy Audit and energy model. Performance Measure: online documentation of audit process, recommendations, and changes made.
6.Use Roofscape in Summer Programming to encourage sustainable practices by youth Performance Measure: Create and track student involvement in summer programs; Survey students for program impact.
7.Objective: Promote Offsite Accessing of Resources (virtual tour of roof, streaming data sets, EFS Curriculum Pilot, Model for Faculty Engagement, Model for Greening School Curriculum Student Committees) Performance Measure: Documentation recorded online hits; track reported use of facilities, resources, and procedures
8.Objective: Provide students opportunities to engage in meaningful service-learning by providing the tools for real time baseline data collection on the roof that will inform future decisions. Performance Measure: Survey students who use data sets to assess any further use of the information. Document all incidents where students employ collected data.
9.Objective: Support replication of green roof process and outcomes including data collection and curriculum development for purposes of sharing learning with other schools and fostering replication. Performance Measure: Online documentation of all steps taken, all curriculum developed, and data sets collected at www.blsyouthcan.org with new pages created specifically for student data sharing.
Replication
BLS Youth CAN’s network of high school youth groups numbers at 16. As NSTAR’s Benchmarked school for the Boston Public Schools, BLS will make all of the steps taken in conducting green changes available online on the Youth CAN website for other schools to replicate and we will promote them among Youth CAN member groups. At our green roof block party several Youth CAN groups expressed interest in pursuing similar projects at their own schools. Because Youth CAN launched the Massachusetts Education for Sustainability Campaign seeking to require interdisciplinary education for sustainability curriculum in Massachusetts, we have a ready-made vehicle for promoting the curriculum teachers develop. In addition, BLS Youth CAN formed a new partnership with our neighboring colleges in the Fenway area, the Fenway Green Roof Student Coalition, a partnership BLS Youth CAN founded with the intention of establishing the first green roof enclave in Boston. BLS Youth CAN will document all phases, findings, strategies, and implemented changes related to our energy audit, and the Sustainable Roofscape Learning Lab. Data collected by students in the rooftop learning lab; curriculum developed for the project; and all will be also all made available on the BLS Youth CAN website. Such documentation will make it possible for other schools to envision the concrete steps for shifting towards a greener campus and illustrate opportunities for implementing education for sustainability. It will provide guidelines for integrating service-learning projects that are place-based in other urban schools beyond BLS.
BLS Youth CAN students are delighted to be working on such an exciting project. Especially since students are bringing an initiative that is so forward looking, innovative and progressive to the very oldest school in the country, and doing so in the year of the school's 375th anniversary.
Goals for the Sustainable Roofscape Learning Lab:
¥Contribute significantly to the reduction of greenhouse gases and the heat island effect in Boston’s Longwood Medical Area.
¥Develop and implement a plan to reduce BLS fossil fuel use in combination with building envelope and systems upgrades to improve building performance, and in so doing, set a higher standard for the sustainability performance of BPS facilities
¥Reduce stormwater runoff from BLS into the Boston Harbor by retaining water
¥Improve the health of BLS occupants by increasing the oxygen and fresh air available in and outside the school building, and by growing organic produce on the roof to be used in the cafeteria.
¥Provide opportunities and appropriate facilities to support the curriculum focus of the Massachusetts Education for Sustainability and Climate Literacy Campaign.
¥Develop and incorporate new curriculum based on green roof elements and increase students’ opportunity for inquiry based learning, place-based learning, and service learning
¥Provide opportunity for site visits for other schools in the BPS that are interested in developing a green roof, incorporating sustainability curriculum and teaching, and using roofscape data sets
¥Documentation of all phases and elements of the project so that it other schools may replicate them
¥Establish a Fenway Green Roof Student Coalition (in partnership with other green student groups at immediately neighboring schools, eg. Harvard Medical School, Simmons, Northeastern, Wheelock, Emmanuel, Wentworth Institute, Mass College of Art, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Dentistry, etc.) for the purposes of establishing green roofs at each of these institutions, thereby creating a Fenway green roof enclave that will: inspire similar projects in other parts of the city; model the critical importance of educating for sustainability; offer concrete guidelines for how such teaching can be incorporated; and become a model for community action and collaboration in combating climate change and in educating for sustainability.
¥Partner with area youth organizations to ensure that the roofscape and curriculum is accessible and accessed
The Design Team for the BLS Sustainable Roofscape Learning Lab:
Boston-based Studio G Architects offered pro bono services for preliminary design and planning. As a firm with a long-standing commitment to sustainable design, and experience designing learning environments for children, and involving youth in participatory planning and design processes, this project was a natural fit for the firm. Studio G has obtained and reviewed available drawings of the school to evaluate the feasibility and appropriateness of using the BLS roofs for intensive or extension plantings, outdoor learning environments, greenhouse, solar panels, both photovoltaic and solar thermal, wind turbines.
With Youth CAN involvement, Studio G has created a concept design for a multi-phased, multi-dimensional green roofscape for BLS. Studio G researched and compiled into spreadsheet format and a powerpoint presentation data comparing vegetated roof systems, solar and photovoltaic panels, and wind turbines, with proposed selection criteria. Studio G has drafted a phased schedule for the four critical paths of the green roofscape initiative: design, construction, curriculum, and funding.
Description of the BLS Roof Conditions and Opportunities:
Over 90% of the BLS roof is flat. The main upper roof has large areas available, with minimal mechanical equipment and head-houses to interfere. There is little shading on the upper roof except the high gable of the original building, which covers a narrow section of the building along Avenue Louis Pasteur, and doesn’t pose a problem. This slate gable roof with a copper cupola offers a great architectural focal point which can be used as a backdrop for the occupied green roof areas, and which creates a wall along the street. The upper roof offers expansive views of the city, the Fens, and the Longwood Medical Area. The low parapet at the upper roof does not provide adequate protection, so occupied areas of the roof will need to be kept back from the edge and fenced.
Boston Latin School has been constructed and expanded over decades. Additions have created one- and multi-story light courts between existing and new buildings, to maintain daylight in occupied spaces. Many of these light courts are visible from second and third floor hallways as well as adjacent classrooms and/or offices. They are typically surrounded by building walls and therefore extremely safe. They have sufficient light to support vegetation. They are therefore ideal locations for extensive green roofs (light-weight, very shallow plantings), and visible measuring devices because they can be seen and appreciated by all BLS students and faculty in the typical course of a day. Some can be made accessible for student and faculty use; all can be accessed for installation and maintenance through windows.
Design:
The design intention is to create a series of green and out door spaces throughout BLS that are integrated into the fabric of the school in every way. Some green roof spaces will be only visually accessible to students and faculty, others portions will be physically accessible and usable. The level of access will vary, depending upon whether access is needed solely for installation and maintenance, or for occupancy. Barrier-free access and two means of egress are required for program areas to be used by students and the public.
The design includes appropriate means of access to, and egress from, the light courts and upper roof. An existing stair accesses the upper roof from the third floor hall. It is not code-compliant, but the stair shaft can be expanded into the adjacent light court to provide a new main stairwell to the upper roof, with glass walls facing the green roofscape. An adjacent shaft is believed to be usable for an elevator for handicapped access to the upper roof. A stairwell on the north side of the main building can be continued to the roof to provide the second egress. The design of the upper roof creates a network of spaces connecting these two points of access, varying from hardscape patio and classrooms, to more naturalistic meandering path through woodlands.
The BLS green roofscape design reflects the multiple goals above with diverse design elements. As a learning environment, and one that seeks to use the facility to teach, the green roofscape is intended to demonstrate different systems, as well as different micro-environments, and offer opportunities for longitudinal study of the effectiveness of each system, as well as study of natural and other sciences.
Several light courts at the second and third floors will have shallow tray systems, which are the lowest first-cost of the vegetated roof systems, and can be easily installed by students. These will be the first phase of the green roofscape, with a campaign launched at the start of the school year, to culminate with 350 trays to be installed in conjunction with the 350.org day of action on October 24th. We hope to create geometric and other patterns, perhaps utilizing BLS colors of purple and white with drought-tolerant plants.
At Light Court 3, a split-level light court, we have proposed an extensive planted green roof (not trays). The lower, shadier portion visible from the second floor will have vegetation suitable for a wetlands site, and the upper, sunnier portion will have shallow-rooted plants found in meadows.
Light Court 6, adjacent to the third floor Science Classrooms, and accessed via a ramp between them, is designed as a Science Center, divisible into two classes, separated by a storage shed at the center. An extensive planting buffer separates the activity areas from the adjacent classrooms and hallways. A living wall covers the south and west faces of the storage shed.
Light Court 10 is designed as a seasonal culinary garden because it is large, sunny and closest to the cafeteria. Herbs, fruits and vegetables can be grown for use by the cafeteria in this intensive garden, to serve students healthier, locally grown, organic produce. A video monitor in the main lobby and/or cafeteria can announce what produce picked in the BLS garden will be included in the meal.
The stair and elevator to the upper roof open to a patio with a view of the old slate roof as well as nearby buildings. A paved path leads to a greenhouse and beyond it a pair of upper level classrooms. These overlook the third floor outdoor classroom on one side, and an extensive green roof below on the other, and can be the site for the weather station and measuring devices for CO2, water absorption, etc. The alternative path, curving through an intensive garden with Roxbury Russett apple trees and Bartlett pear trees (both local species), leads to an art garden—Giverny on the roof, with a shallow water feature and heavily planted edges. Just beyond the fence, an intensively planted upland meadow extends from east to west the length of the building. South of these core planted areas is a large south wing, idea for photovoltaic panels on racks or solar thermal panels, or both.
Design Components
Extensive green tray system with sedums
Extensive green roof
Intensive green roof with larger shrubs and small trees
Outdoor classroom space for science, art, math, other; space might be large enough to accommodate Alumni Association and other gatherings
Weather station
Temperature sensors to evaluate impact of changing heat levels between the existing black roof, a portion of the roof that will be planted, and another portion replaced with white roof (high albedo)
Measuring devices for recording data on carbon exchange, and water absorption comparing differences between extensive and intensive roof areas
Photovoltaic and/or solar thermal panels for generating electricity and hot water respectively
Small scale wind turbines for electricity generation
Culinary garden with herbs, vegetables to be utilized in the cafeteria, some hydroponic
Tools for documentation and dissemination of data collection, such as video monitors in main floor hallway showing roof data, announcing the fresh BLS-produced food, and streaming data available online
Generating Community Interest in the Project
Youth CAN hosted a 350 Block Party at Boston Latin School on Saturday October 24th (in conjunction with 350.org’s International Day of Action). We invited all 16 Youth CAN groups as well as all of the environmental groups at the neighboring colleges in the Longwood Neighborhood (Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Pubic Health, Harvard School of Dentistry, Harvard School of Pharmacology, Simmons, Emmanuel, Wheelock, Northeastern, Mass College of Art, Wentworth Institute) Each group was invited to have a table displaying information about the greening efforts they are promoting on their campuses. The goal of the block party is to build a youth coalition in the Longwood neighborhood that will work together towards establishing a green roof enclave in Boston. See Recent Accomplishments Page for a Detailed Description of the Block Party
For our part in the block party, Boston Latin School Youth CAN students sold 350 trays (of sedum) for our green roof by 10/24/09. The trays were delivered for our 350 action and as a kick off for the green roof effort at BLS. In advance of the block party, BLS Youth CAN invited presenters from ACE (the Alliance for Climate Education) to conduct an in school-assembly at BLS (on Thursday October 22nd) for our participation in the annual National Teach-In on Global Climate Change Solutions where all BLS faculty are encouraged to teach about climate change and sustainability.
Engaging the BLS School Site Council and the Boston Latin School Alumni Association
Youth CAN students presented to the BLS School Site Council and the Boston Latin School Alumni Association in the fall of 2009 about greening BLS, educating for sustainability, and the BLS Sustainable Roofscape and Rooftop Learning Labs initiative. Students asked the members of the School Site Council to formally adopt these initiatives and goals and to formalize the Greening BLS Committee, and the Education for Sustainability Curriculum Development Committee. Youth CAN introduced the Boston Latin School Alumni Association to the same projects and asked the BLSAA to formalize support for a BLS Green Roofscape Fundraising & Advisory Committee.
Interdisciplinary Education for Sustainability Curriculum Development Team
Youth CAN has asked BLS faculty to participate in a year-long interdisciplinary effort to develop curriculum for sustainability as well as curriculum that can be used in conjunction with the green roof and rooftop learning labs. The curriculum will be aligned to state frameworks and standards, as well as to MESCLC benchmarks for sustainability and climate literacy. The curriculum will be piloted at BLS, and made available online on the “For Educators Page” of the Youth CAN website.
Partnering with the National Farm To School Program
