Discusses the importance of attention to plumbing in college facilities, offering examples from various campuses. Addresses preventive maintenance, technology, and piping materials, including the debate between cast iron and PVC for drain pipes. (EV)

Discusses examples of colleges which have reused historic structures to help revitalize school heritage. (EV)

Describes Clark County, Nevada's use of prototype school designs to respond to its rapidly growing school population. The purpose of the prototypes is to simplify designs so that schools can be built quickly and minimize the time and expense that comes with variations. (EV)

Discusses how the Environmental Protection Agency's Star labeling program offers benchmarks for K-12 schools to analyze the energy efficiency of their buildings, help set a strategy to control energy cost hikes, and generate good will among taxpayers. (EV)

Discusses the definition of apprenticeship and explains the purposes it serves. Examines criticisms of apprenticeship and looks at research on apprenticeship in the building trades to illustrate the purposes and test the criticisms. (JOW)

Presents Millikin University's (Decatur, IL) renovated School of Music facility that includes additional practice rooms and faculty studios, a computer-assisted instruction classroom, and a recording studio. Before-and-after photos are included. (GR)

Describes four new school buildings that received the Association of School Business Officials, International's Certificates of Excellence and three new school buildings and one building renovation and expansion that received Certificates of Merit. Includes the architectural firm; building name and location, grades served, size, and cost; and…

Explains the ingredients of a signature building and the things that school and university administrators must do in order to create one. Discusses the need to plan for signature buildings with a long- range outlook. Explains the importance of these buildings as reference points. (GR)

Asbestos has been used in the construction of elementary, middle, and high school ceilings, floor tile adhesives, pipe and structural beam insulations, science laboratory benches, wire gauss on ring stands, fume hood panels, general insulation, and more during the 1950s through early 1970s. Why? Primarily asbestos was selected because of its…

The Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Great Pyramids of Gaza and the Great Wall of China--all are architectural symbols of a national, proudly shared identity of the people who live near these structures. A country's unique architecture can be a form of art to study as well as a symbol of pride and unity. The author of…

In June 2004, the Scottish Executive published guidance on evaluating completed school building projects, "Building Our Future: Scotland's School Estate," as part of the School Estate Strategy; the guidance included a case study evaluation at an Edinburgh primary school. The Executive is continuing to support evaluation work on the school estate…

In the field of construction, most structures are supported by several groups of truss systems working together synergistically. A "truss" is a group of centered and balanced elements combined to carry a common load (Warner, 2003). Trusses provide strength against loads and forces within a structure. Though a complex field of study, structural…

As the nation's school buildings age and deteriorate, spending on maintenance and operations (M&O) remains paltry, especially when compared with historical figures. This article presents the findings of "American School & University's" 35th annual Maintenance and Operations Cost Study. According to the M&O Cost Study, the median school district…

The effervescent progress of technologies in the modern era demands new pedagogical techniques in the process of effective and successful teaching and learning. The prospective teachers who are competent with technical skills and have command over language alone can produce articulate students. Prospective teachers, when they enter the real…

In 2011, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley signed into law the South Carolina Higher Education Efficiency and Administrative Policies Act, maintaining the transparency and accountability that lead to increased academic quality and affordability at colleges and universities. It is in this context that ACTA (American Council of Trustees and…