Hands-On Green Building Activities for Beginning Students

This paper presents some hands-on Green Building exercises that have been developed and used successfully by beginning students. It discusses the value of this subject matter, and also examines the pedagogical underpinning for a hands-on approach. The intent is to make the case that architecture and engineering students need exposure to Green Building principles at an earlier level than is currently common, and that this exposure should be inductive and kinesthetic. A secondary intent is to prompt a wider discussion about which specific Green Building topics and skills are most important. We conclude with a suggestion that some consolidation and re-organization of existing resources is needed, as well as some consensus about the fundamentals that should be emphasized for beginning students.