Green Building Design

Description

ELEMENTARY: What makes a building green, and how can design help us prepare for a changing climate? Students explore our green building and Stuyvesant Cove Park to discover how design can help conserve energy, use renewable resources, and protect communities from climate impacts. They investigate green building features, explore the park’s flood protection infrastructure, and then build and test a small solar-powered house prototype. Along the way, students see how climate solutions can be built into the places where we live, work, and play.

MIDDLE SCHOOL: Students explore how buildings and public spaces can be designed to create a more sustainable and climate-resilient city. They investigate green building features throughout our center and Stuyvesant Cove Park, including renewable energy systems and the flood protection infrastructure that is part of New York City’s larger climate resilience efforts. Through hands-on design activities, students explore how buildings can reduce environmental impacts while helping communities adapt to a changing climate.

HIGH SCHOOL: Students explore how design can help create a more sustainable and climate-resilient future. They investigate our green building and Stuyvesant Cove Park, looking at strategies for both climate mitigation and adaptation, from renewable energy systems to flood protection infrastructure. Students then build and test a small solar-powered house prototype before taking on a green building design challenge. Working with a budget and a specific building purpose, they select design elements across different LEED categories, weighing the cost and environmental benefits of each choice to see how their decisions affect their building’s potential LEED certification level.