Questions about priorities of Sparta board

To the Editor: I am happy to see that the Spiezle Group made a public presentation to show their ideas for floor plans and possible elevations for our high school at the board of education meeting on March 12. But I question why the board is going to focus on the “details of the exterior design, including type and color of building materials. A long list of interior details will also be decided in what Corfield predicts will be a lengthy and involved meeting”. I am puzzled why the board’s next meeting with the architect is not about energy cost savings, reductions in emissions, natural daylighting, natural ventilation, water & waste water, life cycle assessment cost not life cycle cost, and indoor air quality. With Global Warming a clear reality and our children’s future is our reality; I ask - why aren’t we asking these questions to our school board, school administers, our community, our architects? We all have a responsibility for our children’s future. There are now definitive studies showing that high performance schools - which are schools that address these issues - provide a better learning environment as well as a school that costs less to maintain. It is clear that a performance school can be built at only a small premium (1 to 2 percent more) over a traditional school. Why isn’t the architect being directed to design a school like this, when the industry acknowledges that it is the right way to build? Suzanne Sowinski, AIA