New board members in Wake County (N.C.) district question green schools

From The Raleigh News & Observer: Environmentally green schools may be costing too much financial green for members of the Wake County (N.C.) school board's new ruling majority to keep in building plans. Chris Malone, chairman of the board's facilities committee, has called for a financial review of Wake's green building efforts, which have led to features such as waterless urinals, natural lighting and recycled building material. Malone says these features can increase costs by as much as 5 percent and may no longer be justifiable. But supporters of green schools said abandoning these efforts would be shortsighted. Green-school features are supposed to save money in the long haul, with lower electric and water bills.