USGBC Long Island chapter wins grant for Green Schools Showcase

The Long Island chapter of the US Green Building Council (USGBC-LI) was awarded a $1,000 grant from their parent organization for innovation in green schools. 51 chapters competed for a total of $30,000, with the maximum amount awarded $2,000. Matching funds, required by the grant, will be provided by either acquisition of sponsors, chapter support, or a combination of the two. The grant will be used to coordinate and host the organization's first annual "Green Schools Showcase." The funds will provide a "well needed and deserved kick-off to this event," said USGBC-LI Green Schools committee chair Paul Cataldo. The Green Schools Showcase will connect Long Island middle and high school environmental club representatives at an annual event that provides a venue for idea exchange and healthy competition. The showcase's goal is to increase overall, at the school level, both the frequency and quality of environmental activities. Each participating school's environmental club and their faculty advisor will showcase their club's past year projects, achievements, lessons learned and aspirations for future plans. USGBC-LI hopes to have a panel of USGBC members review, comment and award clubs for, innovation, diligence, and research. The event will be a daylong event with lunch and refreshments provided. USGBC-LI will provide bio-diesel coach busses that will make morning rounds and deliver the students back to their school buildings. Schools that cannot attend physically will attend via video conference. "Long Island is a large and dense geographic area and the logistics of bringing many students together is a daunting task. Transportation is a large issue and the grant money will ensure that we can provide safe clean green transportation," said Cataldo. "We want to make sure, in this economic climate, that an event like this is budget neutral to the school districts." Post-event, the Long Island chapter will share lessons learned, documents, video, and additional information with other schools as well as USGBC's other chapters. According to the USGBC national website, "In 2007, USGBC launched the National Green Schools Campaign with the goal that every child will attend a green school within a generation. Greening our nation's schools presents an incredible opportunity and an incredible challenge. A grassroots effort is necessary to advance the green schools movement; USGBC chapters' green schools committees play a critical role in providing their communities with local outreach and education." According to Cataldo, the slogan has recently and optimistically been rewritten to reach the goal of green schools for every child in "this generation." USGBC-LI's Green Schools committee has over 60 members and has coordinated numerous events and programs. In the last two years, the committee has coordinated a tour for school board members of Hampton Bays Middle School, the first LEED Certified school in New York state. In the same school, they hosted a ceremony awarding the school district a rebate check from the local utility for $300,000 as a result of points attained in the LEED rating system. The committee has also hosted two, half day learning sessions for school facilities managers. In addition, for three years, the organization has annually awarded $7,500 in college scholarships to Long Island students, culminating in an awards ceremony. "We hope to double that amount in 2011," said Cataldo. The US Green Building Council (USGBC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to sustainable building design and construction. USGBC developed the LEED building rating system, which is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions. USGBC's core purpose is 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. USGBC-LI works to bring these values to the communities of Long Island.