New York City’s Local Law 86, passed by the NYC Council this past summer and signed by the Mayor this past fall, represents a new pinnacle of achievement in the growing national movement promoting healthy and high performance school (HHPS) design.

There is now an urgent need to help shepherd implementation of Local Law 86 and the new capital construction funds, with a complex array of school constituencies, educational communities, design professionals, municipal regulators, educational regulators, and school employees.  In order to meet this challenge, Healthy Schools Network and the NYC Apollo Alliance have partnered in promoting the Healthy and High Performance Schools Campaign.   

Our objectives are to assure that all concerned New York City constituencies are aware of the benefits of green design in general and that these constituencies support and help nurture green design schools in their communities. 

We also want to share information about NY-CHPS a new “green” sustainable and healthy and high performance design guideline for NYS schools.  NY-CHPS provides, for the first time, green school design criteria specifically tailored for New York schools.  Add to this the recent action by the New York State Legislature to infuse $11.2 Billion in new capital construction and renovation of New York City schools and it is apparent that there is now a tremendous opportunity to “green” New York City schools, but only if it is done right.

The benefits of HHPS designed schools are enormous.  Studies and experience have shown improvements in student health, academic achievement, improves working conditions for students, teachers and others within a school facility, improves the maintenance and energy efficiency of school facilities, and dramatic savings resulting from decreased maintenance and energy expenditures.