Links

The following are great resources to help you learn more about green building design. The links referenced in the teacher resource are separated by the Five Themes:

Theme 1: Land Use

• BEST → a great site to learn about environmentally friendly ways to travel
• Evergreen → green an area of your school that currently is hard landscaped

Theme 2: Water

• City Farmer → rain barrels are available to help save water
• Environment Canada → water use calculator
• CMHC → read the research on a dual flush toilet

Theme 3: Energy

• Lights Out Canada → a national one-day event during which high schools turn off their lights and learn about global warming
• BC Hydro Power Smart → the Power Smart Students programs provide materials, tools, and support to B.C. teachers and students to educate tomorrow's generation about energy conservation, the environment, and electrical safety

Theme 4: Materials

• Building Homes of our Own → a simulation (for the middle and high school classrooms) that presents a macro view of the entire home building process from site selection to final sale
• Waste-free Lunch → a how-to on organizing a zero-waste day at your school
• National Cell Phone Collection Program → a great fundraising program to recycle cell phones responsibly
• Encorp's High School Recycling Program → reduce your school's ecological footprint while raising money
• Light House → non-profit society dedicated to advancing and catalyzing sustainability in British Columbia's built environment

Theme 5: Sustainable Communities

• High School Climate Challenge → assess and reduce your school's carbon footprint and contribute to climate change solutions
• Canadian Youth Climate Coalition → a united front of youth from across Canada tackling the climate crisis
• One Day Vancouver → taking small steps to reduce energy use, at home and on the road, to make Vancouver the cleanest, greenest, healthiest city

Career Connection
Do you want to search for career opportunities in the green building design industry? Here are some good sites:

• GoodWorkCanada.ca → Canada's green job site since 2001
• Next Steps → an extensive alphabetical list of all types of careers
• ALIS → over 500 occupational profiles, including many careers in the green building field
• Canada Green Building Council → check out the job postings to discover jobs in the green building field
• Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. → APEGBC has a list of careers in Engineering & Geoscience
• Sustainable Business.com → search the list of 'green dream' jobs
• GreenBiz.com → expert advice, insight, and resources on environmental jobs and careers

Further Green Resources
How can you be part of the solution? Here are some good sites:

• Act NOW! National Playwriting Competition → Through this playwriting competition, they challenge students ages 12 - 19 to evaluate the issues facing our environment, devise solutions, and to raise awareness about them with a splash of creativity.

Please note that the website addresses referenced were accuate at the time of posting. Please report any errors to info@greenbricks.ca.