USGBC Fosters Green Education with Awards
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recognized 12 programs its inaugural "Excellence in Green Building Curriculum Recognition Awards and Incentive Grants."
"USGBC launched this initiative to highlight the central role education plays in furthering the green building movement," said Peter Templeton, senior vice president. "The submissions we received showcase the range of institutions and organizations taking an active role in educating young people about green building and the council is committed to fostering more growth in this arena."
The awards and grants recognize pre-K through college-level curricula that advance the green building ideals of transforming how buildings and communities are designed, built, and operated.Recognition awards honor existing green building education projects, activities, or programs.Incentive grants provide $20,000 each for schools or organizations to develop new curriculum.
The council will establish a repository of the newly identified curricula and will develop a teaching resource database, which will serve to disseminate these programs nationally and facilitate contact among educators from a wide variety of disciplines.
The award and grant recipients are located in all regions of the country and include community colleges, universities, non-profit institutions, a professional association, and a state government agency. The recognition awards were judged on demonstrated success, ability to be replicated, scope of influence, advancement of green principles within the educational community, and the fostering of a collaborative or interdisciplinary approach. Grant proposals were evaluated on originality, collaborative or interdisciplinary approach, scope of influence, feasibility, and the ability to be replicated.
The award recipients include:
• School Building Week: School of the Future Student Design Competition, The Council of Educational Facility Planners (Scottsdale, Ariz.).
• Kentucky Green & Healthy Schools, Kentucky Environmental Education Council (Frankfort, Ky.).
• Residential Building Technology Program, Yavapai College (Prescott, Ariz.).
• Beyond Curriculum: Cross-Campus Sustainability at Grand Valley State University, Grand Valley State University (Allendale, Mich.).
• The Alley-Flat Initiative, University of Texas-Austin.
• ecoMOD, University of Virginia (Charlottesville, Va.).
The incentive grants went to:
• Architecture Handbook 2: A Student Guide to Understanding Buildings, Chicago Architecture Foundation.
• Design + Build + Live Green, Youth Learning Academy (Charlottesville, Va.)
• Green Building Technologies Course Curriculum, Eastern Iowa Community College District (Davenport, Iowa).
• Online Course Green Building Off the Grid: A Net-Zero Energy Residence, Santa Fe Community College.
• Collaborative Green Building Practice, Cornell University (Ithaca, N.Y.).
• Sustainable Architecture that Teaches (SAT) Curriculum, University of Maine-Farmington.