In spring 2006, a group of undergraduate and graduate students participated in a course with Prof. Paul Wapner, the Director of the Global Environmental Policy program at the School of International Service. The aim of this course was to provide students with hands-on experience in translating the goals of sustainable development into practice, and provide students an opportunity to partner with architects, SIS administrators, and other stakeholders in building the new home of SIS.
With the new building of SIS acting as the framework for this course, students were able to develop concrete protocols for identifying sustainable materials and material acquisition, create metrics for measuring and evaluating performance of the building according to sustainability principles, and design ways for the building to act as a pedagogical tool to "wage peace, promote justice, build community, strengthen health and celebrate and inspire humanity."
At the end of the spring 2006 semester, students from this course presented their findings and reports to the SIS Building Committee. These reports have strengthened the commitment to building one of the first green buildings in the DC metropolitan area, and have enabled students to take actual steps toward changing the quality and impact of our ecological footprint. Below are some of the reports presented to the SIS Building Committee. We hope that these reports provide you with an insight into how the SIS building will act as a pedagogical tool on how to build responsibly, sustainably, and just.
