PBS高端访谈:临时的活动板房教室得到了可持续的改造

 　　KATIE CAMPBELL: When you think of a school, you might imagine something that looks like this. But many students actually spend a lot of time in buildings that look like this, this, and this.

　　STUDENT: Portables are definitely a problem. I have been in portables for around seven years.

　　KATIE CAMPBELL: These prefab structures are the go-to quick fix when school populations surpass a school's capacity. Compared to permanent school buildings, portables are about a third of the cost to construct. And they only take a few of days to install, compared to the many months it takes to build brick-and-mortar schools. But more than a few children we found are sick of studying in portables.

　　HANNAH PETERSON, Student, Kalles Junior High: It feels like you have got your priorities out of order, and I feel a little bit ignored.

　　KATIE CAMPBELL: Portables are supposed to be temporary; something to help schools deal with overcrowding until student numbers drop or new schools can be built. Try telling that to Billie Lane.

　　BILLIE LANE, Teacher, Kalles Junior High: Pass this forward.

　　KATIE CAMPBELL: She's been teaching in this portable classroom at Kalles Junior High in Puyallup, Washington, for 16 years.

　　BILLIE LANE: The one advantage of a portable is the walls are like — it's like one big bulletin board. You can put it up anywhere and leave it. So the kids have left their mark.

　　KATIE CAMPBELL: Her students call it Lane's world.

　　BILLIE LANE: This one's going on the wall.

　　KATIE CAMPBELL: They say a dynamic teacher helps make up for the shortcomings of portable life. But Lane admits not all portable classrooms are as cozy¹ as hers.

　　BILLIE LANE: In some of the other portables that I have been in, smell has been an issue. You walk in and they have a real bad odor in them. The lighting² is really bad. It's dark. It's dank. When it's that kind of an atmosphere, it sets a tone.

　　KATIE CAMPBELL: And it turns out portables actually can be harmful to student health.

　　Dave Blake is an indoor air quality specialist for the Northwest Clean Air Agency. He's tested air quality in more than 3,000 classrooms in Washington state.

　　DAVE BLAKE, Northwest Clean Air Agency: We have a lot of fancy equipment, but you don't really necessarily need it. You can walk into a classroom. And, right away, if you can smell the humanity and taste the humidity, you know you have got a ventilation issue.

　　KATIE CAMPBELL: Blake measures carbon dioxide levels first.

　　DAVE BLAKE: About 1,400 coming in. Fresh outside air is about 400 parts per million now worldwide. We like to keep classrooms below about 800 or 1,000 parts per million. So if it's above that, we want to know why.

　　KATIE CAMPBELL: High CO2 indicate that students are breathing too much of their own exhaust. They're taking in germs from coughs and sneezes that hang in the air.

　　Other airborne particles are likely building up as well, things like dust and allergens, or volatile³ organic compounds like formaldehyde. The

　　Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department is one of the few Washington State agencies with consistent CO2 data for schools. They found that on average portable classrooms didn't meet the federal standard for acceptable CO2 levels in spaces used for human occupancy.

　　DAVE BLAKE: CO2 is dropping in here with the kids gone.

　　KATIE CAMPBELL: Other studies show that, as CO2 levels rise, student performance falls.

　　DAVE BLAKE: As CO2 goes up, so does absenteeism. And it's notable that it's a little worse in portables, but we don't know why.

　　KATIE CAMPBELL: Blake also looks for signs of moisture by using infrared⁴ cameras and moisture meters.

　　DAVE BLAKE: Eight percent, that's essentially⁵ bone-dry.

　　KATIE CAMPBELL: When a building takes on water, there's likely to be mold, a common trigger for asthma⁶. Problems get worse as portables age. Yet schools often use them well beyond their life expectancy⁷.

　　Critics say portables should be reinvented. They should be made from formaldehyde-free, nontoxic materials. They should have open ceilings, larger windows, skylights, and solar panels to generate electricity. Instead of noisy HVAC units, they should have natural ventilation systems that exchange more fresh air.

　　But a portable like this is out of reach for most schools. Rudy Fyles is the chief operations officer for the Puyallup School District; 20 percent of their classrooms are portable. That's four times the national average.

　　RUDY FYLES, Puyallup School District: Portables are considerably⁸ less expensive than permanent space.

　　KATIE CAMPBELL: But those savings⁹ are only short-term. Studies show that over the course of their lifetimes, portables actually cost twice as much as typical permanent classrooms. In addition to higher maintenance costs, portables are also highly inefficient¹⁰ and take more energy to heat and cool. And because portables are independent structures, they often are charged residential¹¹ electricity rates.

　　RUDY FYLES: It's kind of a double whammy. Not only do you use more power, but you pay a higher rate for the power you're using.

　　KATIE CAMPBELL: Portable classrooms aren't going away anytime soon. But there might be a solution on the horizon.

　　One of the greenest portables is being installed in a Seattle elementary school. In this time-lapse video, we're seeing the first portable classroom built to meet the Living Building Standards, the world's strictest rules in sustainable building.

　　RIC COCHRANE, Co-Founder, The SEED Collaborative: What we're trying to do is take something that was previously¹² the weakest aspect of the school and turn it into a true asset.

　　KATIE CAMPBELL: This classroom is designed to generate its own energy and harvest its own water. Inside, the classroom looks fundamentally different.

　　RIC COCHRANE: You guys want to start with a little bit of show and tell?

　　KATIE CAMPBELL: Ric Cochrane helped design this classroom. Today, he's showing it to some fifth graders for the first time.

　　RIC COCHRANE: You will see that all of this is exposed, and we do that because we want to show how the structure is made.

　　JOEY CLARK, Student, The Perkins School: And what's that white thing up there?

　　RIC COCHRANE: That white thing is a carbon dioxide monitor, so we make sure that the air quality is good.

　　JOEY CLARK: And it has little gauges¹³ and knobs and tubes everywhere that — that are just really cool to look at that you would never find that in a building that had that all covered up, because it looks ugly.

　　RIC COCHRANE: We wanted to play with the center beam, which is structural¹⁴ here. And, again, that's also sustainably harvested wood.

　　ZOE BARNES, Teacher, The Perkins School: When they see systems like are in this building, that will encourage them to ask questions. And, for many students, that will encourage them to just poke¹⁵ around.

　　RIC COCHRANE: We're trying to expose things to make every single part of the building a learning opportunity.

　　KATIE CAMPBELL: Right now, the price tag is about $200,000. That's more than twice the cost of a conventional portable. Over time, they say lower operations and maintenance costs will more than make up the difference. For the kids who will get to use this space, the difference is priceless.

1 cozy   

adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的

参考例句：

• I like blankets because they are cozy.我喜欢毛毯，因为他们是舒适的。
• We spent a cozy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。

2 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

3 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

4 infrared   

adj./n.红外线(的)

参考例句：

• Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
• Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。

5 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

6 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

7 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

8 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

9 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

10 inefficient   

adj.效率低的，无效的

参考例句：

• The inefficient operation cost the firm a lot of money.低效率的运作使该公司损失了许多钱。
• Their communication systems are inefficient in the extreme.他们的通讯系统效率非常差。

11 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

12 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

13 gauges   

n.规格( gauge的名词复数 )；厚度；宽度；标准尺寸v.（用仪器）测量( gauge的第三人称单数 )；估计；计量；划分

参考例句：

• A thermometer gauges the temperature. 温度计可测量温度。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fuel gauges dropped swiftly. 燃料表指针迅速下降。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

15 poke   

n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
• Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。