Introduction

This unit, Building Performance Matters (BPM), was developed by the Florida Solar Energy Center^&reg as a pilot project for Rebuild America’s Energy $mart Schools program.

Building Performance Matters consists of two primary sections: (1) background information and concepts and (2) a school lighting audit. The background information section includes an overview of energy, heat transfer mechanisms, building systems, energy efficiency, and renewable/nonrenewable energy sources. In the second section, an introduction to energy auditing prepares students to preform a simple lighting audit of a school building based on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lighting in the Library materials. Students conduct a simple energy audit, analyze data, and prepare an action plan with recommended energy improvements based on their findings.

All of the activities are inquiry-based and have been aligned to the National Science Standards. Content and process are evaluated using assessments that require the students to apply scientific concepts and principles. All activities follow the scientific process.

Also included in Building Performance Matters are pretests and posttests, teacher information materials, and student worksheets. FSEC staff will be actively involved with the implementation of the project with phone support to teachers.

National Science Standards Integration

Specific standards are included with each lesson in the Building Performance Matters unit. While the standards associated with each lesson are the primary standards for that lesson, other standards may be applicable. An overview of the National Science Standards applicable to BPM are located in the Standards section. Complete standards for each lesson are included with the lesson.

Learning Objectives and Criterion-Referenced Tests

There are five primary objectives for this unit. They address individual concepts and ideas as well as the relationships among the concepts.

Each objective has a test item included so students can be evaluated on the content. The test items can be used as pretests and/or posttests. Each test item has criteria that should be used to evaluate the test item. For example, when students are asked to write an essay, the criteria for evaluating the student’s essay is included. The objectives and corresponding test items are located in the Learning Objectives and Tests section.

Testing Blueprint

The blueprint below shows the weighting of each of the five instructional objectives in the unit. The middle column shows the how much each objective will be weighted on the final test. The last column gives the number of instructional days allotted for each objective. The number of instructional days equals more than 12 because some objectives span multiple lessons. In addition to the 12 instructional days, there will be one test day.

Objective	% of Grade	# of Instructional Days/ Lesson #s
1: Concept Matching	20	5 / 2,3,7,8,9
2: Concept Relationships	20	2 / 2,3
3: Building Systems	20	3 / 3,4,5
4: Energy Resources	15	1 / 6
5: Lighting Case Study	25	5 / 7,8,9
Total	100	12 instructional days

Resources, Equipment and Materials

A complete list of all resources, equipment and materials used in Lessons 1-9 in the BPM unit can be accessed from the link below. Individual lesson plans also provide a list specific to that lesson.

Complete list of resources, equipment and materials

Acknowledgements:
The project was funded by the Florida Department of Community Affairs through the Florida Energy Office.

Individual pages from this web site may be printed and duplicated for
student classroom use provided that proper credit is given to
the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC).