Leveraging Green Building Throughout Your Institution

Submitted by uesiet on Mon, 02/01/2010 - 11:07
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By Marya McQuirter, PhD
chocolate & arugula

Construction of The Suites at Spelman College
Photo Credit: Spelman College

Do you have a green building project in the planning stage on your campus? Or is there a project already underway? If so, don't let the facilities and construction managers have all of the fun. As administators and faculty members, you have an excellent opportunity to leverage green building projects throughout the entire campus.

Here are 4 ways administrators can leverage sustainability throughout their institutions:

  • Chronicle the green building process on your website
  • Invite students to blog about the green building process
  • Engage alumni by asking them to support a specific aspect of the green building process
  • Brand the university as a 'green' institution using the new construction as one example

Here are 4 ways faculty can leverage sustainability in their classes:

  • If you assign student projects, incorporate the green building process
  • If you teach a foreign language, have students write about green building and translate it
  • Assign readings related to sustainability that would give meaning to the green building process
  • Design/co-teach a new class on sustainability using the green building process as the anchor

If you have already leveraged the green building process, please share by leaving a comment below or emailing me at mmcquirter@gmail.com.

If you would like to learn more about advancing sustainability in the curriculum, you can attend AASHE's excellent 2-day Sustainability Across the Curriculum Leadership Workshop. I attended the January 2010 workshop at Emory University with faculty and administrators from more than 25 institutions in the U.S. and Canada. Click here for information about the next workshop.

 

Marya McQuirter, PhD is a sustainability consultant, scholar and blogger based in Washington, DC. She works with universities, businesses and non-profits on researching, writing and marketing their sustainability portfolios. She also lectures widely on sustainability and writes about sustainability on her blog, chocolate & arugula.