INTRODUCTION

In reports produced as long ago as the 1850s, Government Inspectors of Schools identified poor ventilation and lighting as causes of ill-health and speculated that different colours affect mood. In the 1860s there would be no government grant to a school:

‘if the school be not held in a building certified by the inspector to be healthy, properly lighted, drained, and ventilated, supplied with offices [lavatories], and containing in the principal school-room at least 80 cubical feet of internal space for each child in average attendance.'

More recent evidence suggests that good environmental design of schools could have a positive effect on overall learning outcomes, by providing:

• thermally comfortable environments
• access to fresh air, daylight and views out
• acoustics conditions which support teaching and learning
• provision of sports facilities for use within and beyond core school hours
• use of the outdoor environment as a learning resource
• good drinking water provision
• a range of social facilities that support and encourage the development of friendships and social development
• personal safety through careful design.

The benefits of improving health and productivity in schools through environmental measures are potentially enormous. In England alone, there are approximately 24 000 schools providing education for some 7.5 million students each year.

BRE has been active in this area for a long time and undertook some of the earliest investigations of heating and lighting in classrooms:

• in 1931 BRE (formerly Building Research Station) investigated thermal comfort in classrooms heated by radiators, convector heaters and tubular heaters
• in 1944 recommendations on school design were published by the Lighting of Buildings Committee and the Committee on Acoustics and Sound Insulation, both supported by the expertise of the Building Research Station.

There has been a significant opportunity to improve school environments in the UK with increased capital investment in school buildings. Over the decade to 2010, UK Government investment in secondary and primary schools has developed from simple building programmes into initiatives to transform learning by creating inspiring learning and work environments that contribute to reducing carbon emissions from the schools estate.

Sustainable schools could be expected to provide healthier and more productive environments because the factors which contribute to a sustainable building (daylight, fresh air, materials with low pollutants, etc.) correlate strongly with factors known to contribute to health and well-being. Recent studies in the US have attempted to assess the effects of ‘green schools' on student learning and teacher productivity, and in the UK, the Department for Education has attempted to set out the educational and social benefits to young people of learning in a sustainable school.

The scope of this review is limited to features of a building which have a direct impact on the internal environment. It recognises, but does not attempt to address, further indirect impacts that the design of a building can have on health and productivity, such as access to drinking water, exercise and healthy meals.