Teaching Sustainability in Technology

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Sustainability issues are inherently interdisciplinary. See the Resources & Discussions page for resources that span multiple disciplines and the Disciplinary Perspectives pages.

• Green Building
• Clean Manufacturing
• Sustainable Living Practices
• Reducing toxicity and unsustainability in our future roles as worker, consumer and community member
• Energy Efficiency Technologies within Construction and HVAC
• Renewable Energy Technologies (e.g. solar, wind, biomass)
• Transportation Alternatives
• Restructuring work and businesses for more sustainability

Activities

The Seed Center Resources American Association of Community College
Search through materials for sustainability curricula in energy efficiency, green building, wind, solar, sustainable agriculture and land, transportation and fuels, clean technology and overall sustainability.

NCCER
Has courses on solar photovoltaics and wind turbine maintenance, as well as its green curriculum.

Partnership: The state of Virginia and Cumberland County High School
Developing courses dedicated to the emerging areas of sustainability and all renewable technologies. The first course, " Sustainability and Renewable Technology," was validated and officially added to Virginia's list of courses in 2011.

The Green Schools Initiative
Provides curriculum ideas for K-12 teachers.

Education for Climate Neutrality and Sustainability
The American College & University Presidents Climate Committee guidance for addressing climate and sustainability

North American Association for Environmental Education
Offers materials, guidelines and a host of other resources to help out with green education.

Other organizations covering environmentalism and education are the Environmental Education and Training Partnership, the National Environmental Education Foundation, and the Green Education Foundation.

The U.S. Department of Education's Green Ribbon Schools
Online repository of green education resources.

Educational information and materials portal from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Articles

CTE's Role in Energy and Environmental Sustainability ACTE's Issue Brief
Explores the growing role that career and technical education programs play in efforts to increase energy and environmental sustainability. CTE offers early exposure to students regarding sustainable energy career options through curriculum integration, provides the "cutting edge" training necessary to ensure future employees meet work­force pipeline needs, and sets an example through state-of-the-art green buildings that become part of the curriculum.

Preparing the Workforce for a 'Green Jobs' Economy
From the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University

To Save the Earth, Start With Data
This Wired article explores the need for data in sustainable practices, lest they be ... not so sustainable.

Blue Green Alliance
Loaded with data and reports on all segments of the green economy.

USGBC has a wealth of green-building facts, links, publications and case studies, particularly pertaining to LEED.

Green Occupations
Economic Modeling Specialists Inc. posted examinations of green occupations

K-12

K-12 and Teacher Education Sector of the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development
See standards, a K-12 listserv, curricular resources, and organizational listings

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National Association of State Directors of Career and Technical Information
Green and sustainability standards for six career clusters, including STEM (supported by the U.S. Department of Education funds)

• ACTE co-sponsored a green tech Webinar.
• The American Association of Community Colleges has the SEED Center (Sustainability Education and Economic Development Initiative).
• The ESCO Institute offers a green HVACR training program.
• USGBC's annual GreenBuild conference highlights sustainability in architecture and construction around LEED standards. The council also has its own Center for Green Schools. For those seeking LEED certification, the Green Building Certification Institute handles preparation and professional examinations.
• Green isn't just buildings and energy—despite a slow start, manufacturing is making increased turns toward environmental sustainability. The Sustainable Manufacturing Blogspot covers various manufacturing sectors in green efforts and overall efficiency.

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