Journal of Education and Psychology

Abstract

After the Industrial Revolution, the world population increases significantly and at the same time, industry becomes prosperous and technology progresses dramatically, which in turn results in an over-consumption of environmental resources and puts the Earth’s environment at an unprecedented risk. For instance, the Ozone layer is being depleted, the greenhouse effect is triggered, global warming begins to threaten, fresh water becomes scarce, toxic wastes increases and the environment is suffering. Therefore, “sustainable development” has now become an overwhelming global trend. The idea of sustainable development has encouraged countries around the world to establish exemplary green building, and even schools in those countries have practiced the very idea.

This article refers to the environmental problem of the Earth and the global trend of the sustainable development, and profiles how certain countries practice the idea of green school buildings which include the Sustainable School program in Australia, the Eco-school movement in England, the Healthy School team in USA, and the Seed School program in Canada, with a view to getting us ready to be their emulators. Meanwhile, the planning of green school building in Taiwan will be introduced and a total of 33 green schools (4 junior high schools and 13 elementary schools), sustainable schools (8 elementary schools), and new-built schools (3 junior high schools and 5 elementary schools) are surveyed to give a clear picture of the major points of the planning practiced in those schools and the emerging problems we are to deal with. The idea of green school building is a quite new theory, which requires accumulating practical experience. When the whole world is engaged in this task, it is high time to pick it up.

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