Cincinnati State wins U.S. Green Building Council grant
September 22, 2009
The U.S. Green Building Council has awarded Cincinnati State Technical and Community College an “Excellence in Green Building Curriculum Incentive Grant’’ for 2009.
More than 150 institutions of higher education entered the USGBC’s grant competition this year – a 30 percent increase over 2008, the first year of the competition.
For 2009, judges awarded 10 Recognition Awards of $1,000 each and three Incentive Grants worth $10,000 apiece. Cincinnati State was awarded an Incentive Grant in the community and technical college category.
Rebecca Flora, Senior Vice President for Education & Research at the USGBC, said the awards program is a central component of her organization’s effort to identify and disseminate innovative green building curricula to educators across the country.
“The extraordinary rise in green building in recent years has accelerated the need for relevant and engaging educational programs, and all of our participating organizations are playing an active role in helping USGBC meet this important need,’’ she said.
The USGBC Incentive Grant to Cincinnati State will support the college’s pioneering certificate program in sustainable design and construction. Unlike some other certificate programs that are essentially stand-alone enterprises that can be completed in about one year, the sustainable design and construction certificate is designed to be a third-year program built upon an associate’s degree in civil engineering technology or an equivalent academic degree. High-level sustainability factors are woven into courses involving all phases of the building process, from conception to design to site selection to construction.
Ralph Wells, program chair for the sustainable design and construction certificate program, said the USGBC grant will be used to purchase computer equipment and software for classroom use.
“This grant means a lot to us,’’ Wells said. “The USGBC is the recognized industry leader in promoting energy efficiency. For them to single out our program is a huge boost for our students.’’
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the USGBC is a private consortium that includes more than 20,000 companies and organizations and more than 131,000 LEED-accredited professionals. Its membership includes builders, environmentalists, corporations, non-profit organizations, elected officials, teachers, students and concerned citizens.
For more information about the 2009 Excellence in Green Building Education Recognition Awards and Incentive Grants, and for detail about other winning entries, please visit the USGBC’s Educator Resource Center at http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=1879.
