"Green" Schools Grow Around US (2/2)

A rooftop garden is designed to provide stormwater control and help keep the building cool in the sun. And an underground tank can store one million seven hundred thousand liters of rainwater for air conditioning and other systems.

The new building cost about ninety million dollars to build. It stands next to the old T.C. Williams building, which officials say will slowly be taken apart and recycled.T.C. Williams High School is still waiting for the final part of the LEED certification process. Schools receive points for the number of requirements they meet. Buildings are rated silver, gold or platinum" class="hjdict" word="platinum" target=_blank>platinum.

Around the country, concerns about limited budgets for public schools sometimes lead to objections to investing in green schools. But the Green Building Council points to a report by Capital E, a Washington, D.C., company that serves the clean energy industry.

Capital E examined the cost of thirty green schools in the United States. It says the average cost was only two percent higher compared to a traditional school. And it says this extra cost is small compared to the savings over time from lower energy and water costs and healthier students.

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设计屋顶花园来控制暴雨的雨水量，并保持建筑阴凉。同时地下水箱可以贮存170万升的雨水用于空调和其他设备。

新建筑造价大约在9000万美金。它就坐落于老T.C.威廉斯高中旁边，官员称老高中将慢慢地拆除并重修。T.C.威廉斯高中仍在LEED认证的最终阶段。学校根据他们已达到的标准获得相应的分数，评定为白银、黄金或白金级别。

考虑到全国公立学校有限的预算， 有时投资绿色学校会遭到反对。但是绿色建筑委员会提到华盛顿一家从事清洁能源产业的Capital E公司所做的报告。

Capital E检查了美国三十家"绿色"学校的成本造价。它声称平均的造价与传统学校相比仅高出2%，同时这部分超过的成本是极小的，相比于节约多余的能源和水资源费用，以及给学生以更健康的环境。