Lloyd Center “Welcome Center” – Your Building as Workforce Training: Integrating Students into High Performance Projects

New Bedford Voke students – click to enlarge

On February 28, Kathryn Duff, Founder & Director of studio2sustain, presented Your Building as Workforce Training: Integrating Students into High Performance Projects at the NESEA (Northeast Sustainable Energy Association) Conference: Building Energy 2022. NESEA is North America’s premier high-performance building conference. Ms. Duff presented the Lloyd Center “Welcome Center” project. Attendees learned how high-performance building projects are training the next generation of sustainability leaders.

Presentation description: The Lloyd Center for the Environment is an environmental education building on a coastal nature preserve. This building is pursuing the most stringent environmental certification – Living Building Challenge™ – and is being constructed by students from Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical High School. Once completed, over 1,200 students will have worked on this aspirational “Center.” Discover the art, science, and trade, learning opportunities, all performed by students: design charrettes, window install demonstrations, rain screen prototypes, blower-door tests, student-design/constructed bike racks, field-harvested wood siding, and so much more. Come learn how your project can educate and inspire the next generation of leaders.

Presentation learning objectives: (1) Implement a Workforce Training curriculum through organizing vocational days, team-based problem-solving experiences, and providing professional presentations for students in school. (2) Develop lesson plans for students to learn the iterative design process, practice collaboration & integration and experience leadership roles through the design of a high-performance building project. (3) Identify the high school/vocational school/training opportunities present on a build site, including skills training and providing new environments to learn in. (4) Discover the health advantages associated with green building and the many sustainability lessons for students that are embedded in these aspirational construction programs, such as waste management, cradle to grave considerations, and healthy building materials.