What Did You Expect?

What you see in this photo depends on what you’re looking for.

I see a school that requires no air conditioning because the classrooms are designed to provide cross ventilation instead of using the “doors off a hallway” model that leaves so many of us in the U.S. sweltering.

The windows let in light, which augments and softens the fluorescent (and planet saving) bulbs.

This design didn’t happen by mistake.

I see a way that operations staff in University City, Missouri can learn from their counterparts in Lima, Peru.

School planners have created spaces for outdoor collaborations that may be part of instruction or informal conversation. Shade is created in a way that doesn't require huge expense. Something as simple as travel between classes is comfortable.

They're effectively reducing temperature in what might otherwise be an urban heat island.

Education for Sustainability centers around exposing kids to and involving them in the practices and mindsets that lead them to healthy, balanced lives.

May these every day settings reflect our best thinking and intention.

The children are watching.