The movement to construct high performance “green” buildings has had unprecedented market growth and continues to become a mainstream practice for constructing schools in the United States. This paper will consider how the results of government requirements for higher performance school buildings may affect the health and performance of students. The research focuses on educational leaders’ perceptions of how they would prioritize green building strategies based on recent governmental policy that requires building green schools. There is clear and compelling evidence that schools currently built to specific green standards of indoor environmental quality, specifically lighting, result in healthier and more productive students. Interview results concluded that educational leaders’ perceived energy savings strategies to be more important than indoor environmental quality in the design and construction of new schools
