A school’s built and natural environment provides immense opportunities for students to learn about sustainability, science, technology, conservation, the history of their community, and more. A building can be an intentional teaching tool by engaging student curiosity through thoughtful design and utilization by educators. Through this interaction, the school’s physical place becomes a key component of the sustainability vision.
 

 
In order to invite exploration, the building and site should be multi-sensory, accessible, and beautiful. Students should see and touch the systems that make the place sustainable. Further, students should be able to access systems’ inner workings, manipulate their function, and monitor their impact on conservation goals. Finally, the beauty of the place reminds students that learning is important and that their community values learning and provides a beautiful place for them to learn
 

 
Buildings are much like a biological system. Nutrients like energy, water, air, and food flow into the building and support its function, then flow out in the form of waste and heat. Students should visibly see these flows in order to understand system dynamics and identify their own role in reducing the amount of waste produced by their school. In many cases, building design and operations can visibly close the loop on these flows (such as through the use of cafeteria compost in a school garden).

 
The most interactive green buildings are designed with sustainability education in mind and provide tools for hands- on, project-based learning. Educators should play a vital role in the design of the tools and should be coached to utilize them as an integrated component of their classroom objectives.
 

 
An inspiring vision for the future requires practices that are progressively more efficient in order to meet ambitious and achievable objectives. This commitment requires organizations to communicate their progress to the public, establish conservation behavior, and institutionalize progressive efficiency into policies and procedures.
 

 
By making efficiency goals and annual reduction targets public, the organization has a greater sense of accountability and motivation. Publicizing goals and results also invites the community to follow progress and learn from successes and failures, further positioning the school as a hub for community learning. Measuring and reporting success is also a key tool for progress. By measuring, a district can more easily identify problems and opportunities for greater efficiency
 

 
Conservation is not just a duty of facility managers. All building occupants have a role and responsibility to play in progressively improving the efficiency of a school. Desired conservation behaviors should be clearly communicated, barriers should be removed, and the positive impact should be reported back to occupants. The end goal is for sustainable behaviors to become a social norm, a universally understood behavior expectation for school occupants.
 

 
For organizations just starting to implement sustainability initiatives, progress can be quickly reverted if key champions leave the organization. To keep the sustainability initiative “sustainable,” it must be institutionalized. Creating sustainable design guidelines, operations and maintenance guidelines, sustainability management systems, etc., to institutionalize practices and policies can help schools to stay the course.

 
A healthy system is one that balances environmental, social, and economic concerns. In schools, an infinite number of complex, integrated operating systems exist—from procurement and food service to cleaning and air quality management. Though metrics and guidelines exist to guide operational practices, school operations will be healthy only if the purpose, priorities, and operational practices are focused on health.

 
Successful schools understand that the overriding purpose of school operations is not to stay on time and on budget— it is to create a healthy environment for students that is conducive to learning. If this is the core purpose of school operations, healthy and sustainable practices will follow. Though school operations are a complex system and difficult to change, theories of system dynamics tell us that, even if every element within the system stays the same (i.e. people, budget, equipment), changing the purpose of the system will result in profound change. Purpose is the most crucial determinant of a system’s behavior.
 

 
Building operators know that an efficient building must also be a comfortable building. Yet it is not always easy to consider human and environmental impacts while also attempting to balance costs. However, expanding decision- making processes to consider both the budget and impacts on student and environmental health results in healthier— and, more often than not, more efficient—school operations. This shift requires instituting an integrated process, questioning the status quo, and finding creative, innovative solutions that meet sustainability’s triple bottom line.

 
The operational practices of schools often make healthy choices difficult. In order to make health the path of least resistance, school operations should utilize strategies like proximity and accessibility, capitalize on default behavior, and provide incentives and feedback. Placing fresh-cut fruits and veggies in closer proximity to students than unhealthy snacks or creating accessible and safe bike routes to school are both examples of shifting school operations to reinforce health.