Campus Green Builder

By Vanessa Santos, Ashka Naik, on behalf of Second Nature team

 The Campus Green Builder web portal has recently been awarded with an Outstanding Achievement by the Interactive Media Awards. The web portal also received an Honorable Mention by the Creativity International Awards under its “Public Sector/Non-profit” category.

Campus Green Builder's Outstanding Achievement Award
Photo Credit: Interactive Media Awards

The Interactive Media Awards (IMA) “recognize the highest standards of excellence in web site design and development and honor individuals and organizations for their outstanding achievement,” according to its web site. Entries for the Interactive Media Awards are judged on several criteria, such as the design, content, features, functionality, usability and standard compliance/cross-browser capability.

Campus Green Builder also received an Honorable Mention by the Creativity International Awards. This award recognizes outstanding creativity and design in media and interactive formats, as well as print and packaging formats. Campus Green Builder was one of eight web sites that were chosen for the award among hundreds of applicants.

Campus Green Builder, a Second Nature initiative, is a one-stop web portal offering the most up-to-date and helpful information and resources on green building and campus sustainability. Campus Green Builder is an effort by Second Nature’s Capacity Building Program to help under-resourced colleges and universities with their campus sustainability and green building initiatives.

Blue Coda, Inc is the web design company that assisted Second Nature in designing this web portal. With around 1,500 visitors per month, Campus Green Builder has been able to provide colleges and universities with resources, personal stories and case studies on the issues of sustainability. The portal also offers a platform for these schools to learn from each other and share ideas. The four in-depth case studies on Campus Green Builder, for example, illustrate the specific steps taken by these resource-constrained institutions to build green on their campuses, while also highlighting how these institutions overcame the challenges.

The newest additions to the web portal include the Green Students page, which highlights students' green initiatives and personal stories. Students are given this opportunity to get their voices heard. We invite all students to write about their experiences and efforts in the field of sustainability and green building!

Another addition is the Kresge Fellows’ page, which highlights the 40 Kresge Fellows who represent various higher education institutions and are championing sustainability on their respective campuses. With the help of the fellowship awards, fellows attend a green building focused conference. The Kresge Fellows’ page has reports written by the fellows on their conference experiences and how the fellowship helped them in their greening efforts. There is also an exclusive interview with one Kresge Fellow who is greening his campus operations and inspiring others to join his work.

Along with the new and relevant content, Second Nature always tries to find creative ways to share the resources. The Campus Green Builder has a recently added slide show on its homepage that helps users easily and quickly access information through a medium that is dynamic and interesting.

As readers and users of the Campus Green Builder, please make sure to take advantage of all its tools and information. To make the content even more beneficial, we welcome your comments and feedback.