On March 5th (8am to 6pm) and 6th (8am to 4pm ) I was at the Green School National Conference in Virginia Beach, VA. I was lucky enough to receive a full scholarship to be a participant in this awesome opportunity. One of the really cool things about the program was that we were surrounded by about 15 other high school students who were also working in their schools and communities to bring sustainable awareness to the forefront. Tim Cole, the Virginia Beach sustainability coordinator (and probably a bunch of other things!), along with Bryna Dunn gave a good presentation about all of the work we are doing in Virginia Beach with our schools. This is what prompted my Symposium Project, a review of Ocean Lakes High School. The second day started off amazingly with Dr. Peter Senge who spoke about how society and education directly affects the environment. He very importantly said, "Nobody wants to wake up in a world wanting to destroy species or ecosystems, but what are we doing?" He tried to emphasize how we will never be able to advance ecologically until our education system is not based off of an assembly line and people are not left behind in society.
I spent a day shadowing Mrs. Bryna Dunn at Moseley Architects on January 26, 2015 from 10am-3pm. This opportunity was amazing- I even remember complaining about how my eyes hurt from keeping them so wide during the day! Moseley Architects is a really interesting company because they are considered full service, meaning that they can complete each step of the process (architecture, engineering, planning, interior design) in house, and they only need to contract people for construction. While Bryna is a sustainability coordinator, she did set up various meetings with other departments so I talked to 3 different architects, somebody in the engineering department, and somebody the contracting department. I was really shocked by how much you can learn from just one person. Bryna talked to me about the Urban Heat Island effect and how they use FSC certified wood- things I wasn't originally familiar with. The architects emphasized daylighting/views and open spaces. The engineers talked about solar tubes and energy use reduction. All of these are compiled to create the buildings they design-which are mostly up to a LEED standard. It really helped me realize that being an architect, in the sustainable design field specifically, is something I would like to do in the future.
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Cassie HowardA high school student aspiring to change the world through green technology and sustainability. Archives
April 2015
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