Green Collar Job Education Comes to DC!

Area Builders Bring Nation's First Green Job Curriculum to District of Columbia

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Councilmember At-Large Kwame Brown today joined the Green Builders Council of DC (http://www.builditgreendc.org), a coalition of more than 30 local builders and developers, to unveil the nation's first green collar job training curriculum for the Washington, DC area construction industry.

The curriculum will train current construction workers, plus Career and Technical Education students entering the District's construction trades programs, in environmentally-sensitive construction methods and green building rating systems as certified under the U.S. Green Building Council's ( http://www.usgbc.org) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard.

Thanks in part to the leadership of the members of the Green Builders Council of DC more than 100 buildings in the District, totaling over 120 million square feet, are already LEED certified. Including planned projects, members of the Green Builders Council will be responsible for more than 200 million square feet of LEED certified construction in the District. Upon successful completion of this curriculum, students will earn industry-recognized credentials that can help them gain employment at these and other green building projects across the District.

"The demand for District residents who can fill green collar jobs is only expected to grow. Now DC workers and Career and Technical Education students will be able to gain a valuable skill set that will benefit their careers and our city's green future," said Mayor Fenty.

"Now, when people ask me what a green collar job is, I can point to specifics. This training will lead to important results: A greener, more sustainable city and the jobs that go with it," said Councilmember Brown. "The District is looking ahead to the future, and we're fortunate to have partners who want to bring hope to our young people."

"Mayor Fenty and the City Council have been longtime advocates of initiatives that create jobs and promote a more sustainable city. Today, the private sector is proud to do its part," said Ted Trabue, director of the Green Builders Council of DC. "With this first-of-its-kind curriculum we're not just empowering District workers to take advantage of the green jobs of tomorrow, we're helping to grow this city's green economy and paving the way for other green collar workers across the country."

Specifically, the curriculum will train workers and students to be proficient in:
-- Recognizing the challenges that construction presents to the environment;
-- Understanding the life cycle phases of a building and their impacts on the environment;
-- Identifying eco-friendly alternatives to conventional building practices and understanding the costs and benefits of those alternatives, and;
-- Understanding the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED rating process and being able to apply construction practices that contribute to a building's LEED rating.

The new curriculum is the product of a partnership between the Green Builders Council of DC and the Florida-based National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) ( http://www.nccer.org/). The Green Builders Council of DC and NCCER commissioned the Sustainable Facilities and Infrastructure Research Team of the Myers-Lawson School of Construction at Virginia Tech University ( http://www.mlsoc.vt.edu/) to develop the curriculum. An updated version will be prepared in the coming months to train workers in the U.S. Green Building Council's revised LEED standards for 2009.

The curriculum has been endorsed by the U.S. Green Building Council as well as Green Advantage ( http://www.greenadvantage.org/), an organization providing environmental certification for construction trades workers who demonstrate knowledge of current green building principles, materials, and techniques.

The training curriculum will be taught by NCCER-accredited training sponsors, including the Academy of Construction & Design at Cardozo Senior High School in Northwest.

The local builders and developers who are members of the Green Builders Council of DC have been leaders in green building and green jobs in the DC area for years. Their member firms have constructed over 100 projects totaling more than 120 million square feet that are certified LEED buildings and currently employ over 450 workers who are accredited by LEED as experts in environmentally friendly construction. George Hawkins, director of the DC Department of Environment, recently praised the Green Builders' Council of DC for "leading the charge on the business side of greening this great District."

http://www.builditgreendc.org

Technology Reshapes America's Classrooms

Technology Reshapes America's Classrooms

BOSTON, Massachusetts (Reuters) - From online courses to kid-friendly laptops and virtual teachers, technology is spreading in America's classrooms, reducing the need for textbooks, notepads, paper and in some cases even the schools themselves.

Just ask 11-year-old Jemella Chambers.

She is one of 650 students who receive an Apple Inc laptop each day at a state-funded school in Boston. From the second row of her classroom, she taps out math assignments on animated education software that she likens to a video game.

"It's comfortable," she said of Scholastic Corp's FASTT Math software in which she and other students compete for high scores by completing mathematical equations. "This makes me learn better. It's like playing a game," she said.

Education experts say her school, the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School in Boston, offers a glimpse into the future.

It has no textbooks. Students receive laptops at the start of each day, returning them at the end. Teachers and students maintain blogs. Staff and parents chat on instant messaging software. Assignments are submitted through electronic "drop boxes" on the school's Web site.

"The dog ate my homework" is no excuse here.

Read more at:

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-usa-education-technology.html

Obama Pledges Universal Broadband, Doubling Fedral R&D Budget

Obama Pledges Universal Broadband, Doubling R&D Budget

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama Monday pledged universal high-speed Internet access and doubling the national research and development budget in a speech at Kettering University in Flint.

"At a time when technology is shaping our future, we devote a smalle rand smaller share of our national resources to research and development," the Illinois senator said. "I'll double federal funding for basic research and make the R&D tax credit permanent. We can ensure that the discoveries of the 21st century happen in America -- in our labs and universities; at places like Kettering and the University of Michigan; Wayne State and Michigan State."

The proposals found a receptive audience in Joe Heston, a 23-year-old Kettering senior who said he tends to vote Republican.

"I like his ideas, especially on the economy and education," said Heston, from Monterey, Calif., who attended Obama's speech. "I'm going to take a long look in this election."

Obama, making his third campaign swing through Michigan since mid-May, said Monday he wants to move America to a place where workers can compete in a global economy.

Read more at: http://www.wwj.com/Obama-Pledges-Universal-Broadband--Doubling-R-D-Bu/2421744