We have a good reason to move ahead with and support Washington’s High Performance School Buildings – or “green schools” – program.

That reason is that the majority of us and our kids spend most of our time indoors, breathing indoor air. That air can become unhealthy if we don’t pay attention to the materials and methods we use to build and maintain schools. Kids, and adults for that matter, don’t learn well when they breathe unhealthy air.

In 2005, the Washington Legislature passed the high-performance public buildings mandate. One goal of this law is to build schools that will improve student achievement and occupant comfort, reduce costs and preserve environmental resources. Few would argue that Washington’s children deserve anything less than the best possible learning environment that we can provide.

“High-performance building” is a term used to describe buildings that focus on indoor air quality, responsible material selection, sustainable site considerations and energy efficiency. When talking about schools, the term refers to the performance of school building occupants – the students, teachers and community groups who use the modern school building.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Americans spend 90 percent of their time indoors. On any given school day, about 20 percent of Americans spend time in a school building.

The American Lung Association has found that American children miss more than 10 million school days each year because of asthma exacerbated by poor indoor air quality. In Washington state alone, more than 500,000 people have asthma, including 125,000 children. In Spokane County, about 40,000 adults and children have been diagnosed with asthma. Total direct medical costs for asthma reach $240 million each year in our region. How we build our schools matters.

Creating healthy schools is a big part of what the High-Performance Schools Protocol – also known as the Green Schools Program – is trying to address. A growing number of studies confirm the relationship between a school’s physical condition, especially its lighting and indoor air quality, and student health and academic performance. Teachers, students and parents have known for years that a better facility – one with great acoustics, lighting, indoor air quality and other healthy features – will deliver better student outcomes.

The Green Schools Program is our state’s answer to the challenge of providing an environment where teachers and students can excel. Flexibility is key to the program’s success. Districts can customize the schools they build to best suit the particular needs of their communities. They prioritize what is right for them – whether indoor air quality, daylight and well-ventilated classrooms or energy efficiency. The program is aimed at building the best possible learning environment – for the kids, the environment and the economy.

Some claim, as the Washington Policy Center’s Todd Myers did in his op-ed column on Feb. 28, that the program does not save money through energy efficiency. Such claims are premature and, to date, unfounded. The fact is that we are still collecting data from the schools that volunteered to participate in the program’s early phases. Many of these schools opened just this past September. The state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction is currently developing a cost-reporting tool for schools that will help gather consistent data.

The schools we build now will be the schools that children in Washington will be attending for the next 50 years. Upfront investments now will pay off in healthier schools, increased student performance, improved teacher retention and less impact on our environment. Our children are our future – we owe it to them to give them every advantage that we can.