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comment Green Teaching Tools Earn Recognition and Financial Support
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has recognized a dozen educational programs in its inaugural “Excellence in Green Building Curriculum Recognition Awards and Incentive Grants.” Designed to honor and promote “educational experiences that focus on reconciling humanity with nature and promoting environmental health, social justice, and economic prosperity,” the program was open to initiatives designed for students in prekindergarten through college.
Photo © ecoMOD, University of Virginia
The University of Virginia’s ecoMOD program was another winner in USGBC’s “Excellence in Green Building Curriculum Recognition Awards.” In this photo, participants install photovoltaic panels atop a prefabricated house designed and built by students and volunteers and located in Gautier, Mississippi.
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USGBC selected six existing programs for recognition awards, based on the programs’ demonstrated success, replicability, scope of influence, advancement of green principles, and ability to foster a collaborative or interdisciplinary approach. The winners are:
- School Building Week: School of the Future Student Design Competition, submitted by the Council of Educational Facility Planners in Scottsdale, Arizona. The annual competition is an opportunity for teams of middle-school students to design schools that enhance learning and engage the community while protecting the environment.
- Kentucky Green & Healthy Schools, submitted by the Frankfort, Kentucky, Environmental Education Council. This Web-based program supports both teachers and students in using their school buildings and grounds as teaching tools.
- The Residential Building Technology Program, submitted by Yavapai College in Prescott, Arizona. This classroom and jobsite program teaches students about designing, building, and managing the construction of climate-appropriate green homes.
- Beyond Curriculum: Cross-Campus Sustainability at Grand Valley State University (GVSU), submitted by GVSU in Allendale, Michigan. This comprehensive program, which integrates curricular development with campus operations and community involvement, is based on GVSU’s own efforts to green its campus.
- The Alley Flat Initiative, submitted by the University of Texas–Austin. A collaboration between the University’s Center for Sustainable Development, the Guadalupe Neighborhood Housing Development Corporation, the Austin Community Design and Development Center, and the BaSiC Initiative, this program is designed to create green, affordable housing accessible via Austin’s underutilized alleys.
- ecoMOD, submitted by the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. A partnership between the University’s School of Architecture and School of Engineering and Applied Science, ecoMOD allows students to design and build green, affordable, modular housing and then to monitor and evaluate its performance to guide new designs.
USGBC also selected six program proposals for $20,000 incentive grants, based on the proposals’ originality, collaborative or interdisciplinary approach, scope of influence, feasibility, and replicability. The winners are:
- The Architecture Handbook 2: A Student Guide to Understanding Buildings, submitted by the Chicago Architecture Foundation. Based on an original version published in 2007, the new Handbook will be an online, interactive curriculum for high-school students and teachers to investigate the design and construction of green schools.
- Design + Build + Live Green, submitted by the Youth Learning Academy in Charlottesville, Virginia. Building on the Academy’s existing Design + Challenge program, this resource will stimulate student interest in green design and construction through education and hands-on training.
- Green Building Technologies Course, submitted by the Eastern Iowa Community College District, based in Davenport. As part of its Renewable Energy Systems Technician program, the District plans to develop a new course that will teach students to build green, affordable housing as well as several shorter modules that will explore mechanical systems, interior design, horticulture, and other topics.
- Green Building Off the Grid: A Net-Zero Energy Residence, submitted by Santa Fe Community College in Arizona. Part of a certificate program in green building, this online course will be based on an audiovisual documentary tracing the design and construction of an off-grid house.
- Collaborative Green Building Practice, submitted by Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. This course will encourage students to look beyond the design process to interact with government authorities, researchers, building professionals, and the public to investigate the broader context of green design and construction.
- Sustainable Architecture that Teaches, submitted by the University of Maine at Farmington. This program will use the University’s two new LEED-certified buildings to teach students in kindergarten through college about green design and construction and how to reduce their own environmental impact.
The motivation for the awards program was USGBC’s desire to spread the word about successful programs and extend their reach to new audiences. “We knew excellent green building educational programs existed in a wide variety of settings, but there was no method to capture these programs and share them with other educators,” says Margot McDonald, chair of USGBC’s Formal Education Committee and professor of architecture at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. USGBC plans to develop an online database of green building curricula to inspire new programs and to encourage communication among educators in all arenas.
This article was produced by BuildingGreen, LLC.- www.buildinggreen.com
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