Educating LEED Professionals on the possibilities of net-zero energy buildings.
Project
The United States Green Building Council (USGBC), a global, nonprofit organization, working to improve human health, sustainability, and resilience in the built environment, was offering grants for organizations to develop educational content for their new online education platform.
Approach
As a Board Member and consultant to the San Diego Chapter, I applied and was awarded a grant to develop an online course highlighting green buildings and sustainability efforts in the San Diego and Tijuana region on behalf of the Chapter.
Recognizing the opportunity to showcase the region’s innovation to the green building community, it was decided that the course would feature the J. Craig Venter Institute, the first net-zero energy laboratory in the United States, located in La Jolla, California.
I partnered with the J. Craig Venter Institute, ZGF Architects, Point Energy Innovations, Integral Group, Chris Giles Images, and the San Diego Chapter to conceptualize and create a course that highlighted the key sustainability and LEED features of this innovative laboratory.
Results
Together we created “Designing a Net Zero Energy Laboratory: J. Craig Venter Institute,” a 3-part on-demand course focused on the key elements of the space.
The series includes 20+ videos and interviews with key stakeholders, a “talk show” style conversation with the lead architects, and a walking tour with the lead engineer. Given the technical details associated with the net-zero facility, we opted for a video-based format with graphic overlays.
The course was available through the USGBC Education platform and achieved a 5-star rating. It was also recognized as a model for online educational programming. Courses using a similar format can be seen today in their learning platform.
Collaborators
Chris Giles Images
San Diego Green Building Council
J. Craig Venter Institute
ZGF Architects
Point Energy Innovations
Integral Group