Schools going green to save on electric bills, teach students

LITHONIA, Georgia (AP) -- Nestled in the lush trees of suburban Atlanta's Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve sits the foundation of a school that is being built with partly recycled materials.

When it's finished, Arabia Mountain High School will have naturally lit classrooms and an aggressive recycling program.

It's part of a "green school" movement that is growing in popularity nationwide, with schools leaning toward solar panels, living roofs and wetlands. School districts say the environmentally friendly properties save energy costs while educating students about the world around them.

"In the past 6 months, it's been overwhelming," said Lindsay Baker, manager of the U.S. Green Building Council's school certification program. "There is a general agreement in schools that this is the issue that schools need to be thinking about."

Nearly 300 schools are on a waiting list for certification from the council, which sets nationally recognized standards for environmentally friendly buildings. So many schools are going green that the council, which previously certified schools based on commercial-building guidelines, just came out with benchmarks specifically for schools.

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This from CNN. AP Photo: Students from Clackamas High School in Clackamas, Oregon, are shown plotting the wetlands near the school.