WASHINGTON — The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) Center for Green Schools, based in Washington, honored a number of projects, institutions and individuals in December with Best of Green Schools awards. The award program honors sustainability leaders and innovators working to create healthy, high-performing learning places across the educational spectrum.
ORLANDO, Fla. — The 35th annual conference began in Orlando on Jan. 20, offering a space for educators, school administrators and tech experts from across the country and globe to explore current and emerging technologies. FETC is the largest educational technology conference on the East Coast with an anticipated attendance of more than 8,500, and will run through Jan. 23.
ST. LOUIS — The 175,000-square-foot expansion of the Olin Business School at Washington University (Wash. U.) in St. Louis achieved LEED Gold certification in December. The $90 million project was completed in spring 2014 and included the construction of Knight and Bauer Halls on the Danforth campus. Construction was completed during an aggressive 20-month schedule.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The new $93.2 million Veterans Memorial High School in Corpus Christi is now under construction, slated for completion in August 2015. This is the first high school to be constructed in the Corpus Christi Independent School District in 45 years.
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Oregon State University (OSU) leaders announced an initiative earlier this month to construct a $60 million forestry complex. OSU officials hope the complex will accelerate the university’s forestry education programs, as well as its research on advanced wood products.
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Students of the Washington Writers’ Academy in Kalamazoo, Mich. returned to their new, “old” school on Jan. 5 after construction on the historic building had relocated them since mid-2013.
HOUSTON — The Houston area has seen a boom in school construction ever since a $1.89 billion bond issue was passed in 2012, funding a variety of Houston Independent School District (HISD) projects. Forty schools are slated for renovation or replacement with the 2012 bond funds, reported the , and 17 of these projects have been moved from the design phase to the construction phase.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — School safety is always a concern and has become an even larger issue over the last few years. Changes in design and operations are occurring throughout the country in order to increase security on campus, including recent updates for two school districts in Minnesota.
BLACKSBURG, Va. — High school students at the Giles County Technology Center in Pearisburg, Va., which serves both Giles and Narrows high schools, are in the middle of creating a house for Habitat for Humanity in their shop. While they have a good understanding of traditional building methods, they aren’t as familiar with green building practices. As such, Virginia Tech students in the College of Natural Resources and Environment were assigned the unique task of helping develop teaching materials on green building for the high school students.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The presidents of three Rhode Island universities — alongside a number of political, educational, design and construction representatives — broke ground Dec. 15 on the new Rhode Island Nursing Education Center. This sprawling facility will provide top level nursing education to students from the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College, as well as administrative space to Brown University, at an estimated construction cost of $215 million.
