Self-Guided Green Tour

Being good inhabitants of the earth, and providing a comfortable, healthy learning environment for our students, faculty and
families, is at the heart of Ruffing. That’s why we made a commitment to be a “green” school. Recognizing that being green is a
process, not a miracle, we embarked on a journey to constantly learn and implement new ways to strengthen that commitment.

Take this self-guided tour to see what’s new at Ruffing and to learn about the many ways we have incorporated our green
philosophy into the building and into the daily life of our school.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Stop 1
An abundance of green school features can be seen right here in our new lower school commons…

Look up at the sun tubes that capture sunlight to illuminate the entire space. Sunlight enters the tube
through a clear acrylic dome. An inner prismatic lens (“fly eye”) captures the light from all angles and
bounces it down the reflective tube, to be evenly spread throughout the space via a second prismatic
diffuser lens that you see in the ceiling. Natural lighting enhances overall wellness, positively impacts
student learning, and reduces energy consumption.

Take a minute to read our “Everyday Green Habits at School” banner, which is just one piece of the
green curriculum developed by our school. Designed as a natural extension of Montessori learning, the
green curriculum gives our students tools to access, understand and support a green environment. The
added curriculum material, so unique it has a copyright, represents a modern addition to the work of
Maria Montessori, and is another Ruffing benchmark of excellence. It is our hope that the addition to our
curriculum will help students see themselves as part of the integrated whole of life on this planet, in a
direct relationship with all living things.

The lunch setting on display is an example of our No Waste Lunch guidelines that encourage children to
carry a reusable lunch box and food containers, to use placemats, cloth napkins, and reusable dishes,
glassware and flatware, and above all, our policy encourages students to make healthy, nutritious choices
for lunch.

Check out our worm “chalet” next to the laundry closet where 20,000 “red wigglers” feast on shredded
newspapers and food scraps from our lunches before churning out nutrient-rich composting for use in our
classroom gardens.

Energy-efficient appliances were selected for the kitchen areas, classrooms and laundry centers
throughout the school. Did you know front-load washers require only 1/3 of the water and detergent
required of top-load washers and they save energy in reduced water heating needs?

In choosing interior finishes, Ruffing selected low VOC (volatile organic compound) emitting paints,
carpet tiles, and glues to enhance indoor air quality and make our school a healthier place. The carpet
tiles are made from 60% recycled content and are 100% recyclable.
Stop 2
Step inside our All Day Children’s House and note the abundance of energy efficient windows that
allow ample natural light into our classrooms, creating a comfortable environment for children and
reducing the need to use all indoor lighting on sunny days.
The flooring in our new classrooms is Marmoleum, a real linoleum product made from solidified linseed oil
and wood flour or cork dust applied over a burlap backing. (The term “linoleum” is often incorrectly used
to describe vinyl flooring, a not-so-green material!)

Notice the fabric “sock” overhead used in place of the traditional metal ductwork. Fabric ducts offer more
even air dispersion throughout the room, and air passing through the fabric eliminates the risk of
condensation and air-borne dust from accumulating on the surface. The woven fabric does not absorb
moisture, so it resists bacteria and mold growth.

Outside the classroom you’ll see a rain barrel, one of four installed at Ruffing. Rain water that typically
enters the storm drain is instead diverted into our rain barrels directly from our gutter system. Pure rain
water – free of salts and other additives found in municipal water sources – is harvested for use in our
classroom gardens. Additionally, rain barrels direct moisture away from the building’s foundation, prevent
storm water runoff from entering local watersheds, and provide water for our plants and gardens during
dry months. (Special thanks to the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes for generously donating the four rain
barrels at Ruffing!)

Stop 3
Welcome to our Toddler Community! Solar shades selected for the Toddler room’s energy efficient
windows are made with a light filtering, PVC-free fabric that blocks glare and heat, allowing a darkened,
comfortable room during nap time for our youngest students.

Throughout the school, Ruffing opted to use energy efficient fluorescent bulbs for lighting, which are
more efficient than incandescent light bulbs of an equivalent brightness and they last 10 to 20 times longer.

Stop 4
Our new Children’s House classrooms boast ample natural lighting and ventilation for a comfortable
environment and better indoor air quality for our children. In every classroom we installed a
programmable thermostat that allows us to set temperatures for occupied and unoccupied time periods
for a more efficient system. Systems are turned off and windows are opened when outside temperatures
permit, allowing natural ventilation to enhance our classroom indoor air quality. After all, fresh air is
good for everyone!

During our 2-year redevelopment project, Ruffing reused construction materials including doors,
windows, sinks, cabinets, and furniture whenever and wherever possible. Look for reused materials along
the way. You’ll see a couple of recycled windows in many classrooms if you look closely. What we were
not able to reuse, Ruffing either donated to local organizations or recycled through Rosby Resource
Recycling, which allowed us to divert unusable materials to a recycling center rather than to a landfill.

Stop 5
On the way to our new Lower Elementary wing, notice the beautiful wood cubbies designed by our Lower
El faculty and built by a local carpenter. All of the cubbies and lockers you’ll see throughout the school
were built by the same local woodworker.

Stop 6
Visit our new Lower Elementary wing consisting of three beautiful, light-filled classrooms set up to
provide the optimal Montessori experience. We take advantage of the south-facing rooms and use the
sun’s energy to minimize the requirements of our mechanical systems for both heat and light. Variable
lighting controls allow us use all, a portion, or none of interior lighting that is available. Often, on a sunny
day, there is no need to switch on the lights in these rooms.

Look outside the classroom windows to see Ruffing’s active composting bins where we add our left-over
food scraps like melon rinds, vegetable peelings, apple cores, egg shells, banana peels, tea bags, etc. The
organic matter provided in compost provides food for microorganisms, which can be added to soil to keep
it in a healthy, balanced condition. Ripe composting is used in our classroom gardens.

Stop 7
No need to look for a light switch in the lower school bathrooms – automatic lights are triggered by a
motion detector located in the ceiling just inside the entrances. All of the sinks used in these restrooms are
recycled sinks from the demolished lower elementary wing of the old school building. Ruffing chose to
install auto-feed hand towel dispensers to cut down on paper waste. Waterless urinals were installed
to conserve an average of 40,000 gallons of fresh water per urinal, per year. (Yes, 40,000 gallons per urinal,
per year!)

Stop 8
Peek into our geo-thermal pump room, located in the large multi-purpose room. The system provides
heating and cooling to eight classrooms in the new part of the building – the Toddler Community, four
Children’s House classrooms, and three Lower Elementary classrooms. Two geo-thermal well fields, each
consisting of six 300 feet deep shafts in a vertical loop configuration, are located just outside the northeast
and southeast corners of the building. The earth’s interior – like the sun – provides heat energy from
nature. Water travels through the geo-thermal wells, picks up the earth’s temperature, and travels to heat
pumps located on the roof where a compressor unit warms or cools the air used to keep our classrooms
comfortable. The water then circulates back through the loops to again pick up the earth’s constant
temperature.

Stop 9
Take a moment to rest on the beautiful natural bench located at our main entrance. This bench was
constructed with wood milled from a maple tree that provided shade to children for years on our old
playground. The tree had to be moved to make way for new construction and it was too large to relocate
safely. Fortunately, Ruffing was able to save many trees that were in the footprint of the new building by
transplanting them to other areas of the school grounds.

Stop 10
Head down the steps and through the hallway leading to our new fine arts wing that consists of our Global
Language, Music and Art classrooms. You might notice one of several recycled and reused doors from
classrooms that were torn down to make way for new ones.

Stop 11
Right next door to the Global Language room is a typical Ruffing janitor’s closet where you’ll find evidence
of our green cleaning policy to use only safe, non-toxic cleaning products in the daily cleaning of our
school. From our all-purpose cleaner to the bathroom disinfectant, we have eliminated the use of harmful
chemicals known to pose health concerns to individuals, especially those with asthma and allergies. The
products we use won’t harm the environment either and all are made locally by Green Clean, Inc.

Similar to our indoor cleaning policy, Ruffing has adopted an integrated pest management policy, which
means we avoid using pesticides and herbicides as they are known to be harmful to humans, animals and
the environment.

Stop 12
Notice that all of the windows in the riser area of the Middle School are recycled windows that were
salvaged from old parts of the building during construction.
Stop 13
Continue on through the Middle School classroom and stop in to see our new Middle School science lab,
home to our national award winning science teacher, Cary Seidman.

Stop 14
The Middle School is also home to our 5.8 kilowatt solar photovoltaic system, which provides power
approximately equal to what is required to power our entire geo-thermal system. In the locker area you’ll
see the “Sunny Boy” grid-tied photovoltaic inverter box that takes power from a DC source (solar panels)
and converts it to AC power for lights, computers, and other needs. The 28-panel photovoltaic array on
the roof can be seen from the rear parking lot of the school. Each multi-crystalline panel is 65 inches long
and 35 inches wide. Ruffing Montessori School has been a featured stop on the Ohio Solar Tour for the
past three years.

The lockers here were built by the same local woodworker who built all of the cubbies in the lower school.

Stop 15
Moving upstairs, visit an Upper Elementary classroom to see our “living roof.” Each of our two Upper El
classrooms has its own exterior door leading out to the vegetated roof. (Students work on trays at the
patio area.) Green roofs provide insulation to spaces below, contribute to improved air quality, reduce
heat concentration in the summer, and offer a pleasant outdoor view to students on our 2nd floor.

Continue through William Losacano’s Upper El classroom to the short hallway leading to the gymnasium
landing.

Stop 16
Stop, read, and take to heart the Pledge to the Earth. Our Children’s House students recite the pledge
daily at Ruffing to reaffirm our commitment to being good stewards of the earth.

Make your own pledge to the earth by signing your name on the display board.

We hope you enjoyed learning about the many features that make Ruffing Montessori a green school to its core. We
continuously look for ways to be more responsible inhabitants of the earth and to provide a healthier learning
environment for our students and faculty. Together we are on a mission to transform Ruffing into a brighter shade of
green every day.