Just what does ‘green’ mean?

This should come as no surprise, but Guilford County Schools plans to go green with the $457 million in bond money voters handed over in May.

There are just a couple of questions, though. For starters, just how much money does ‘green’ construction save? GCS facilities director Joe Hill isn’t sure yet. And what exactly does ‘green’ mean?

One of the problems with green technology is the term itself, which has no clear definition and can encompass virtually any technology, from the mundane and practical (orienting new schools so their windows can get the most sunlight) to the experimental and possibly extravagant (the 7-acre sewage system at the Northern schools, which requires a licensed operator).

……Northern High School, which opened in January, and Northern Middle School, which has been open for a year, share a 7-acre wastewater treatment system that is one of the largest and most complex systems in the state. The system collects up to 5 million gallons of rainwater a year and stores it in a 350,000 gallon tank that is used for flushing toilets. It can process 22,000 gallons of sewage a day.

….Hill said state regulators were also dubious about using rainwater to flush toilets at the Northern schools. “They said, ‘You’re going to do what?'” he said.

So much for practical and mundane. Will we be surprised when the money runs out before all the projects are completed?