Capital planning for schools should include both qualitative and quantitative dimensions. And while
building condition remains an important and necessary factor in short- and long-range facility planning,
by itself it is not sufficient to reveal the full range of building performance issues or to guide decision
making and strategies for prudent capital investments.
Functionality – sometimes referred to as “serviceability” or “fitness of purpose” – has to do with how
school buildings and sites support users’ activities. Its reference points are the owner’s operating
requirements that represent the purposes and objectives for which the facility was originally designed
and built, plus the many new functional requirements that have inevitably arisen over time (driven by
such factors as enrolment growth or decline, grade reconfiguration, trends in curriculum, technology
or educational philosophy, and community uses). In terms of functionality, a school can have positive
attributes – it can be safe and secure, healthy and comfortable, cost-effective and environmentally
sustainable, even uplifting and inspirational – or negative ones – it can be overcrowded or underutilised,
dilapidated or obsolete, inefficient and expensive, or even dangerous. There is a welcome and growing body of literature on links between the functional quality of educational
buildings and the academic performance of the students who occupy them. This research is also
consistent with new attention to the environmental aspects of schools, which are significant in terms
of embodied pedagogy, the health and comfort of educators and learners, and, indeed, the long-term
prospects for life on the planet.
