027-0 Wyo. Code R. § XII
Each new school facility shall meet minimum requirements for sustainability and energy efficiency.
Day Lighting. Quality day lighting designs have been proven to improve student productivity. When integrated properly with the electric lighting system, day lighting saves significant amounts of energy.
Energy Efficiency Energy Efficiency should be a cornerstone of the school to reduce operational expenses, conserve natural resources, and reduce local and global pollution.
Indoor Air Quality. Schools must protect student health, and good indoor air quality is essential for healthy schools. A wide variety of design issues affect indoor air.
* Ventilation systems must meet the minimum requirements of voluntary consensus standard ASHRAE 62-1999, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality.
Maintenance. Without regular preventative maintenance over the lifetime of the building, a school will not perform at the level it was designed. Inadequate maintenance can cause a litany of problems from poor indoor air quality and increased energy expenses, to visually, thermally, and acoustically inadequate teaching environments.
* The district must create a school maintenance plan (as part of the project closeout) that includes an inventory of all equipment in the school and their preventative maintenance needs.
Commissioning and Training. All schools should be commissioned to ensure that the design meets the expectations of the district, and that the school is built as it was designed. Modern schools are complex buildings. Commissioning ensures that all building systems are working properly, and that the school staff knows how to operate and maintain them.
Acoustics. If not controlled to appropriate levels, noise from loud ventilation systems, outdoor sources, and neighboring rooms can significantly impede communication between teachers and students. Young learners, students with hearing difficulties, and those learning English as a second language are particularly vulnerable.
*Classrooms should have a maximum unoccupied background noise level of 45 dBA.
Sustainable Materials. Hidden within all materials are the resources, energy, chemicals, and environmental damage involved in their production. More sustainable alternatives, such as recycled materials, exist and should be used as much as possible.
Waste Reduction. It is now possible to recycle, compost, or salvage a majority of construction and demolition waste instead of disposing it in landfills. All projects should recycle, compost, or salvage building materials where economically feasible.
027-0 Wyo. Code R. § XII