1. Ortiz, Flora Ida, Schoolhousing , Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1994
   Ortiz's book has useful parts, but gets bogged down in very specific examples, most of which are from a narrow time and place (California, 1980's). Jargon-heavy, and not easy reading, this is probably the least useful of this group of four.
   
   
2. Herman, Jerry J., Effective School Facilities , Lancaster, PA: Technomic, 1994.
   This is a book that is quite useful in spots but is seriously crippled by its use of language. For example, one chapter subheading is "The Variance in Programs and Instruction Deliery Methods Necessary to Accommodate Specialized Instructional Programs". I believe that I understand what he's trying to say, but is it worth the effort? I really like his chapters on relating facilities to teaching, on post-occupancy evaluation, and on maintenance. Although published in 1995, the chapter on technology is a hoot. It describes conditions and systems more appropriate to 1985.
   
   
3. Kowalski, Theodore J., Planning and Managing School Facilities , New York : Praeger, 1989
   This is the most recent in a series of books by Kowalski. They do contain useful information, but in a terse form sometimes undistinguished from opinions. His process diagrams can be interpreted to have meaning, but probably only for those already familiar with these processes. This has probably the best of the four's offerings on school maintenance issues such as preventive maintenance and air quality.
   
   
4. Basil Castaldi, Educational Facilities: Planning, Modernization and Management , 3rd edition. (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1987).
   Similar in ways to Kowalski, but a source that I prefer in some areas due to better coverage of design issues that relate to the actual learning and teaching experience. A bit pedantic, somewhat dense, but otherwise useful.
   

Council of Educational Facility Planners, International, Guide for Planning Educational Facilities . (Columbus: CEFP, 1991)
A good general reference on school design and planning. Section C on planning is particularly strong, with useful rule-of-thumb data. Unlike some other sources, it contains process diagrams that ordinary human non-academic mortals can understand. Beware of overly prescriptive or specific advice in some of the later chapters.

Greenman, Jim, Caring Spaces, Learning Places , Redleaf Press, 1988.
Jim is the authority on design, construction, and management of early childhood environments. His book is very applicable to elementary childrens' learning environments, and, for that matter, to any building intented for human occupancy. This is a very good book.

Architectural design references:

Alexander, C., et al,The Oregon Experiment and A Pattern Language , Oxford University Press:
These two volumes (and others in the series by Alexander published by Oxford) present an alternative approach to design and programming that was radical in the 1970's. Since then, a part of these concepts has been incorporated into general theory and practice, and some has been forgotten. I use Alexander's work extensively in my professional work, and have found it essential to use his material as inspiration and resource rather than as gift from on-high to be used without question. In my experience, for example, the best patterns are invariably those written by the user group.

Allen, Edward, How Buildings Work, Oxford, 1980:
Ed Allen's book is probably the best all-around guide to the design of buildings. It conveys complex ideas in clear, non-technical language. Ample illustrations.

Brand, Stewart, How Buildings Learn , Penguin, 1994, 243 pp: This fascinating book has a lot to say to the architectural profession from an outsiders view, and much of it is very relevant to anyone who uses or designs buildings. It's fairly inexpensive and a good read. Don't miss Brand's concept of shearing layers which is critical to understanding why some buildings thrive and grow and others are disfunctional from the beginning. Highly recommended, and should be required reading for anyone building or renovating buildings.

Mace, R., Hardie, G., and Place, J., Accessible Environments: Toward Universal Design : Required reading for everyone on designing for diverse populations, and consideration of all people's needs as a design challenge rather as than a code requirement. Should be nailed to the door of all architect's offices.

Marcus, Clare C., Housing as if People Mattered , (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1986).
This is a classic in the housing field, with clear parallels for educational environments. It's also a model of clear thinking and good research, without some of the pseudo-scientific fol-da-rol that is becoming common in the architectural programming literature.

Pena, W; Problem Seeking ; AIA Press, 1987
This is one of the grandmommies of architectural programming (description of need), many times updated and reissued. Although its rigidity of process (one fits all), its somewhat dated attitudes, and its insistence on separation of programmers and designers are frustrating, its space planning formulas and cost/budget planning chapters are still the best (heavily excerpted in your packet). Worth owning and still in print.

Preiser, W., and Ostroff, E. (eds.), The Universal Design Handbook, McGraw-Hill, 2001
This is the "phone book" of accessibility and universal design, with many chapters on many subjects, including one by Yours Truly on Educational Facilities. There is a wealth of useful information, although the amount is somewhat daunting.

Places , vol. 7, no. 4, :
A whole issue of this wonderful periodical that is almost entirely devoted to the University of Oregon's Science Facilities project. Required reading for anyone working on a laboratory project or any other that involves large groups of people (such as schools). Of special note:
Coffin, Christie J., "Making Places for Scientists", Places (Vol. 7 No. 4) pp. 38-49.
Yudell, Buzz, "Building Community Through Participation", Places (Vol. 7 No. 4) pp. 22-29.

Zeisel, John, Inquiry by Design , Cambridge, 1981, 250 pp:
This is a book about design theory, and is a classic in the field. It provides by far the best resource on many of the techniques used by architects to determine user needs, and also a theory of programming within the design process that relatively accurately reflects the methods of experienced designers and programmers.


Building maintenance references:

Edwin B. Feldman, Building Design for Maintainability . (Atlanta: Service Engineering Associates, Inc., 1982). Although at times opinionated (or maybe I just don't agree with his opinions), Feldman's book is the best that I've seen for ensuring that construction pay attention to long-term cost issues, especially issues related to custodial maintenance. It's not easy reading, but you can skip to the checklist for the best stuff.

Poston, W., and Muther, Connie, Making Schools Work , Newbury Park, CA: Corwin Press, 1992. This small book covers the huge area of management of support operations, from the office through the kitchen out onto the athletic fields and into the buses. By definition it is terse and to the point, so it is very useful, but in some cases quite incomplete. This book is in most cases a great place to start, and may give you enough on its own. For example, the two pages on hiring architects are an effective summary of everything that I know about the subject.

Lufkin, Peter S., and Pepitone, Anthony, The Whitestone Building Maintenance and Repair Cost Reference , Santa Barbara, CA: Whitestone Research (published annually). Published annually, this is an expensive but useful resource in estimating or benchmarking maintenance and repair costs in buildings. Its huge amount of information is not for the timid, and its high cost means that most districts would probably want to borrow rather than buy this, but if you are building a maintenance budget or trying to predict maintenance costs for a new facility, this is a great place to start.

Keniry, Julian,Ecodemia: Campus Environmental Stewardship , The Wilderness Society, 1995. This has good information on micro-chemistry and other approaches to hazardous materials and teaching lab environments. It has many other useful tips for environmentally-responsible practices in an education setting.

Kaiser, Harvey, The Facility Manager's Reference , Kingston, MA: R. S. Means. Althugh oriented toward larger organizations, this hefty tome does have quite a bit of useful data. However, it is more oriented toward corporate facilities managers than toward educational environments. Worth consulting but, at least for most school districts, not worth owning.

Laboratory References:

Ruys, Theodorus, ed., Handbook of Facilities Planning, Volume I, Laboratory Facilities , Van Nostrand & Reinhold, New Yord, 1990. This is a large, detailed guide to the design of research laboratories. However, since there is not an equivalent volume for teaching laboratories, it is an essential aid for the planning and design of schools with laboratories. Probably not worth owning, but definitely worth borrowing.

Oregon AdministrativeRules, Chapter 437, 1910.150 Occupational Exporsure to Hazardous Chemicals In Laboratories.

Acoustics References:

Charles M. Salter Associates, Acoustics, William Stout Publishers, San Francisco 1999 - Technical, but accessible. It's the best by the master teacher and practitioner in this area.

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