Over recent decades, environmental impacts caused by human actions have increased and their serious consequences, such as climate change, are on the front lines of the international agenda. 50 years after the start of first life cycle analyses, and 40 years after the first oil crisis, many entities adopt serious measures to solve these problems.

Buildings and their construction are a major part of this environmental impact. For example, in Catalonia, construction processes and the resulting use of buildings generate 32% energy consumption and 30% solid waste generated.

In Spanish schools there is a specific problem regarding the need for protection against the sun. The main reason is that many of these centers were quickly built in periods of exceptional economic deficits, in the 1960s, 1970s, and early 2000s. During these periods, thousands of centers were built with tight deadlines and costs that, in many cases, resulted in the installation of windows oriented to the south, east and west that do not have adequate sun protection systems. In these cases, the thermal gain and the natural lighting are excessive compared to the maximum comfort levels for learning. In some schools, these problems could be solved by building new solar control devices that provide comfort to educational spaces.

In addition, these school buildings, where new generations spend much of their childhood in learning situations, can play an active role in educating them about environmental issues. For example, if the architecture is high energy efficient and uses recycled materials, then the building itself can be very valuable teaching material.

The aforementioned sunscreens can incorporate renewable energy collectors and to incorporate students to participate in their design and construction can prove to be very rewarding.