title: A Multidisciplinary Research Framework on Green Schools: Infrastructure, Social Environment, Occupant Health, and Performance.
abstract: Sustainable school buildings hold much promise to reducing operating costs, improve occupant well-being and, ultimately, teacher and student performance. However, there is a scarcity of evidence on the effects of sustainable school buildings on health and performance indicators. We sought to create a framework for a multidisciplinary research agenda that links school facilities, health, and educational outcomes.
  
  
  
  We conducted a nonsystematic review of peer review publications, government documents, organizational documents, and school climate measurement instruments.
  
  
  
  We found that studies on the impact of physical environmental factors (air, lighting, and thermal comfort) on health and occupant performance are largely independent of research on the social climate. The current literature precludes the formation of understanding the causal relation among school facilities, social climate, occupant health, and occupant performance.
  
  
  
  Given the average age of current school facilities in the United States, construction of new school facilities or retrofits of older facilities will be a major infrastructure investment for many municipalities over the next several decades. Multidisciplinary research that seeks to understand the impact of sustainable design on the health and performance of occupants will need to include both an environmental science and social science perspective to inform best practices and quantification of benefits that go beyond general measures of costs savings from energy efficiencies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, 1681 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1681.
authors.forename: Sheryl
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Magzamen
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Colorado State University, 1784 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1784.
authors.forename: Adam P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.affiliation: Institute for the Built Environment, Colorado State University, 1501 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1501.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barr
authors.affiliation: Institute for the Built Environment, Colorado State University, 1501 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1501.
authors.forename: Lenora
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bohren
authors.affiliation: Institute for the Built Environment, Colorado State University, 1501 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1501.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dunbar
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Colorado State University, 1172 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1172.
authors.forename: Dale
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Manning
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, 1681 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1681.
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, 1681 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1681.
authors.forename: Joshua W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Schaeffer
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Colorado State University, 1172 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1172.
authors.forename: Jordan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suter
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Colorado State University, 1784 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1784.
authors.forename: Jennifer E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Cross
mesh_terms: D000397:Air Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004782:Environmental Health / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005160:Facility Design and Construction / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012574:Schools / Q000458:organization & administration*
keywords: indoor air quality; indoor environmental quality; occupant health; occupant performance; sustainable schools