ARCHITECTURE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, Proceedings of PLEA 2011, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium (July 2011) ISBN xxx-x-xxxx-xxxx-x - ISBN (USB stick) xxx-x-xxxx-xxxx-x @ Presses universitaires de Louvain 2011 xx.x SECTION NAME 1 Improving school building quality in the State of São Paulo, Brazil Marcella SAVIOLI DELIBERADOR, Doris C.C.K.KOWALTOWSKI 1 Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo, Universidade Estadual de Campinas -UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil. 2 Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo, Universidade Estadual de Campinas -UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil. ABSTRACT: This paper presents the results of an investigation conducted in the State of São Paulo, Brazil with the architects who are responsible for the design of school buildings for the public sector. The study was based on structured interviews to characterize the specific design process. Questions on the specific design concepts applied by the architects included environmental comfort aspects and sustainability as a guiding principle. Results showed that the design process is strongly influenced by local school building agency – FDE (Fundação para o Desenvolvimento da Educação) with little leeway for innovation. In relation to aspects of thermal comfort and sustainability the professionals mentioned few items. One of the reasons for this lack of concern can be attributed to the standardized construction system adopted by the State and the need for cost reductions. The design process was compared to recommendations found in the literature on high performance school buildings. Some opportunities for change could be identified. Although the results are not encouraging in bringing about improvements in the school building conditions, there are signs of change that should be explored. Finally, the characterization of the local school design process indicates the need for better assessment tools and access to technical information directly applicable to design issues. Keywords: design process, school building, sustainability. 1. INTRODUCTION Public education has always been an important instrument to promote social progress. Schools need to address issues that impact society and make sure that future citizens are capable of meeting the challenges that lie ahead. One of the more urgent issues today relates to environmental questions, and the means of implementing a global society with more sustainable attitudes. Schools have a key role to play, through curriculum content and appropriate teaching methods to convey these new attitudes. As well, schools should set an example to adequately represent the desired values of a specific time and place. School buildings should externalize these values, especially through a sustainable architecture. In Brazil the quality of public education has been under debate, especially in light of the unsatisfactory performance levels obtained by students. Part of the discussion centres on the adequacy of the physical environment to support new educational goals [1]. A growing number of studies show that the quality of the physical environment influences users, their level of stress, physical and mental health, as well as a sense of self-esteem. Buildings with poor ventilation, inadequate lighting and acoustical conditions, as well as unfavourable heating or cooling systems have direct consequences on well- being factors and impact the larger environment as well. Post-Occupancy Evaluations (POE) of school buildings in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, show that problems, related to environmental comfort, are frequent, which indicates that current design parameters require revision [2,3]. For school architecture to embrace its important role for new educational goals, the design process must change, so that professionals can respond to current demands within local constraints. Sustainable school buildings, or green schools, are seen as providing healthy environments, which support educational trends and aid in increasing academic performance of students. Such an architecture should cost less to operate, and should contribute in saving water and energy of a community. The construction industry is known to be a major consumer of natural resources and buildings-in-use impact the environment, producing various pollutants and large quantities of energy and water are spent to satisfy user needs. Educational institutions are part of this reality and high performance schools are seen as responsible alternatives [4]. In Brazil such proposals are best based on the principles of bioclimatic architecture, since most of the territory of the country has favourable climatic conditions to support such designs. This paper presents a discussion on the design process of public schools in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, managed by a government agency called FDE (Fundação para o Desenvolvimento da Educação). Fig. 1 shows an example of a recently built school. Opportunities to improve this process are presented with a focus on issues of sustainability. 2. GOALS The characterization of the local public school design process was the principal goal of the study. Understanding this process can then be applied to a comparative study of recommended processes for high performance schools. Opportunities for