If we spend 90% of our time inside buildings, how do the environments we live, teach, and learn in become educational laboratories? 

At the 2009 AAO conference, Julia Feder, Manger of LEED Education Resources at the U.S. Green Building Council led a break-out session based on this question.  The session, held
Friday, November 6, 2009, began with an exploration of how to make sense of sustainability in the classroom.  Julia also focused on USGBC education resources that can boost understanding of green building basics, as well as award winning education programs from across the country.  The group went through some hands-on activities that helped participants to identify opportunities for aligning curriculum with educational opportunities throughout the school building.

Check out Julia's presentation, and all the great Green Education resources available on the USGBC website.  Be sure to listen to the MP3 of Julia's session at the bottom of this post!

Julia Feder, Manager of LEED Education Resources, U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)

Julia Feder serves as the Manager of LEED Education Resources for the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). In this role, Julia oversees a broad range of activities related to the development of education programs, trainings, and resources in support of USGBC’s mission to transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy, and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life. Her responsibilities include overseeing the development of green building case studies, distance learning opportunities, and a variety of publications. Additionally, Julia has led USGBC’s efforts to support the integration of green building and sustainability concepts into K-12, undergraduate and graduate curriculum.

Since graduating from Antioch University New England’s Environmental Science Graduate Program in 2002, Julia has also worked with the Missouri Botanical Garden EarthWays Center in St. Louis, MO, coordinating the organization’s sustainability education programs. Additionally, she has taught fourth grade and helped start a farmers market to serve an urban neighborhood. While Julia loves her car-free, urban commute, she looks forward to any opportunity to get outside of the city with her two dogs.