California hosts summit to encourage community colleges to become greener

California hosts summit to encourage community colleges to become greener

In order to encourage environmentally conscious practices on college campuses, a number of school officials will gather at the Pasadena Convention Center for the 2010 Green California Community Colleges Summit. The university representatives will share their ideas about policy, practice and technology in an effort to accelerate green programs in their facilities and curricula.

Despite funding challenges, adding more environmentally-friendly initiatives may increase green job-related curricula, and renovating buildings to incorporate energy efficient and high performance systems can boost the number of students per facility.

The keynote speaker will be Doug Henton, chairman and chief executive officer of Collaborative Economics, a group that has conducted studies on the growth of green jobs in California. Presenters include administrators, architects, facility managers and others who are involved in community college projects.

Education sessions at the Summit will address financing and funding, green building, developing effective green jobs curriculum, grid neutral campuses, apprenticeships and future trends, as well as green purchasing.

The Summit is the largest conference devoted to the greening of community colleges.

By Mark Danson