Green California Schools Summit 2011

Speakers at the Summit include leaders and experts from the worlds of policy, technology, design and practice. Learn about effective strategies and innovations from the professionals who have developed and pioneered them!

Note: sessions and session dates subject to change.

Continuing Education Credits

All sessions in the concurrent session program are eligible for Continuing Education Unit (CEU) credits from the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA). Members will receive one credit for each session they attend.

AIA members can receive one CEU for each of the sessions noted below.

CONCURRENT SESSIONS

MONDAY, OCTOBER 17

CONCURRENT SESSIONS

Green Building	Resource Efficiency	Curriculum
10:45 am-12:00 pm	10:45 am-12:00 pm	10:45 am-12:00 pm
Energy - It's the Key to Begin the Green Process	Real-World Smart Water Management Strategies Cut Costs and Return Cash to Classrooms	The Edible School Garden - Incorporating California Standards-Based Learning in a Garden and Classroom Setting
1:15 pm-2:30 pm	1:15 pm-2:30 pm	1:15 pm-2:30 pm
Energy-Efficiency Makes for Successful Bond Campaigns	Strategic Visioning for Greening Your Campus Landscape	Engaging Students in Energy Efficiency
3:00 pm-4:00 pm	3:00 pm-4:00 pm	3:00 pm-4:00 pm
Local Leaders in Sustainability - Greening Schools from the Inside and Across Boundaries	Creating a Culture of Sustainability in Schools	EEI - The California Education and the Environment Initiative

Additional session, October 17: 10:45 am-12:00 pm: High Performance Incentive Grant Funding for K-12 Public Schools

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18

CONCURRENT SESSIONS

Green Building	Finance	Curriculum
9:00 am-10:15 pm	9:00 am-10:15 pm	9:00 am-10:15 pm
Sustainability Master Planning for Schools	How CHPS ORC and Other Programs Help Upgrade Existing Schools	Think Outside the Books: Moving Curriculum Outside of the Classroom
10:45 am-12:00 pm	10:45 am-12:00 pm	10:45 am-12:00 pm
The Road to Energy Independence	Lifecycle Costing: Investing in High Performance Upgrades in a Down Economy	Energy Efficiency and Curriculum
1:30 pm-2:45 pm	1:30 pm-2:45 pm	1:30 pm-2:45 pm
Imagining New School Buildings for the Sustainable Future of the LA Unified School District	Evaluating New Green Products	Implementing a Green Curriculum: Strategies and Success Stories

Green Curriculum Insitute
This day-long event will be held on October 18. For details, click here.

Concurrent Session Descriptions

October 17

Green Building Track

Energy - It's the Key to Begin the Green Process
The Coalition for Adequate School Housing (C.A.S.H.) will provide a presentation given by school facility experts that offer insight into opportunities for planning and financing energy efficiency projects. This workshop will discuss creative methods to consider in the planning and design phase, as well as financing options that include local, state, and federal sources. Attendees will be provided with the latest developments on state bond efforts, legislative actions, and federal school funding that impact green schools and school energy projects. Case studies will include a Power Purchase Agreement for three school sites in Northern California and a Net-Zero nature center in Southern California.

This session will provide school districts and their consultants with information to enable them to pursue different financial avenues for funding of green/energy saving processes and to provide real examples of successful green/energy savings projects.

Moderator:
Cathy Allen, CASH Chair & Senior Director Facilities & Planning, San Juan Unified School District
Presenters:
Joe Dixon, CASH Vice Chair & Assistant Superintendent Facilities & Governmental Relations, Santa Ana Unified School District
Steve Newsom, CASH Board Member & LPA, Inc. Associate
Anna Ferrera, CASH Legislative Advocate & Executive Dirctor, School Energy Coalition

Energy-Efficiency Makes for Successful Bond Campaigns
This dynamic team of experienced professionals will show you how districts throughout the state are structuring facilities bond campaigns to highlight energy efficiency projects. This is helping achieve voter support and the successful passage of a bond. From energy retrofits to solar and other alternative energy sources, today's green projects can help you garner community support for your facilities bond campaign. Jared Boigon, Partner at TBWB Strategies, located in San Francisco, has worked with districts throughout California to prepare and shape successful campaigns. Kathleen J. McKee, partner at Fagen Friedman & Fulfrost and a member of the Green California Schools Summit Technology Advisory Board, will provide an approach for evaluating which energy projects are the right ones for your district. Ms. McKee works with districts of all sizes and wide ranging energy needs and goals to help them design programs and contracts that meet their needs.

Presenters:
Kathleen J. McKee, Partner, Fagen Friedman & Fulfrost
Jared Boigon, Partner, TBWB Strategies

Local Leaders in Sustainability - Greening Schools from the Inside and Across Boundaries
We know that the average school is 42 years old, and energy inefficiencies cost it approximately $100,000 a year, money that could be better spent on teachers, education materials, books or computers. We know that more than 15,000 schools have air that is deemed unfit to breathe. With all the constraints on budgets, how do you ensure that schools are "greened" holistically? Come hear some of the answers through the work of two sustainability leaders that are working through the Sacramento City Unified and Lucia Mar Unified School Districts. Their strategies and plans go beyond just looking at the buildings themselves by engaging community partners, coordinating staff and student outreach, and helping to institutionalize sustainability in the long-term vision of their respective districts. Crossing boundaries is imperative to building strength and support for sustainable healthy schools. In May 2011, the AIA and USGBC unveiled the "Local Leaders in Sustainability: A Special Report from Sundance," which outlines a five-point national action plan that mayors and local leaders can use as a framework to develop and implement green schools initiatives. This special report stems from outcomes at the Greening of America's Schools Summit, which took place November 2010 at the Redford Conference Center at Sundance, Utah. USGBC and its Center for Green Schools; the Redford Center, founded by Robert Redford; and ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability USA, collaborated to host the Greening of America's School Summit, which brought U.S. mayors and superintendents from cities across the country, along with leaders in green design, education, arts and green school advocacy to take part in an intimate discussion on the importance of greening school districts. One of the outcomes from the summit included a campaign by city of Sacramento, led by Mayor Johnson, to engage the Sacramento City Unified School District and partner in greening the schools more holistically. Through an application process, Sacramento was awarded three-year funding for a Green Fellow. In San Luis Obispo, California, community sustainability leaders encouraged and supported the Lucia Mar Unified School District to allocate funds and create a permanent, full-time staff position dedicated to sustainability. In November, 2011, the position was launched with the requirement that the staff person would guide the district on sustainability topics, as well as justify the position financially through corresponding cost-savings. Since then, the district has more than justified this effort through money, resource, and energy savings due to the work of their Sustainability Coordinator.

Presenters:

Pauline Souza, Partner, Sustainability Director, WRNS Studio LLP, Green Schools Advocate Chair USGBC NCC
Erin Inglish, LEED AP, Sustainability Coordinator, Lucia Mar Unified School District
Farah McDill, LEED AP BD+C, 2011 Center for Green Schools UTC Fellowk, Sacramento City Unified School District

High Performance Incentive Grant Funding for K-12 Public Schools
The California Department of General Services’ Division of State Architect (DSA) and Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) will explain the process for applying for High Performance Incentive (HPI) Grant funding, currently available through the School Facility Program. Attendees will understand:

· How to obtain HPI design approval through the DSA.

· How to apply for HPI grants through the School Facility Program and OPSC.

· What are HPI grants; how they are calculated, how California Green Code affects HPI grant funding and program basics.

Presenters:

Brian LaPask, Acting Operations Manager, Program Services, Department of General Services Office of Public School Construction
Theresa Townsend, Supervising Architect, High Performance Section, Division of the State Architect

Resource Efficiency Track

Smart Water Management Strategies Can Return Cash to Classrooms
This presentation will feature case studies from two California school districts that achieved significant savings and operational efficiencies by taking a 360° approach to sustainability initiatives.

Partnering with local agencies on water, utility and energy use audits, Berryessa Union School District and Campbell Union School District identified landscape irrigation technology as a primary opportunity to reduce water bills, maximize staff productivity and re-apply immediate cash savings back to the districts’ general funds. ALNA, an architecture and landscape design firm, outlines sustainable landscape design methods and water conservation technologies implemented by colleges and school districts across California.

Attendees will learn to identify proven technology solutions that deliver promised resource and cost savings without creating operational burdens; implement technology with rapid project ROI to maximize savings and self-fund additional conservation measures and create immediate cash savings and return dollars back to vital classroom programs.

Presenters:
David Radke, Facilities Manager, Building & Grounds, Campbell Union Elementary School District
James Bakos, Facilities Manager, Berryessa Union School District
Mike Harrington, Project Manager, ANLA Associates, Inc.
Chris Manchuck, Vice President, Hydropoint Data Systems

Strategic Visioning for Greening Your Campus Landscape
Comply with the State’s Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance, AB 1881. Greening your campus landscape doesn’t need to be a costly proposition. There are many affordable strategies that can be employed to turn your high-water use, high-maintenance landscape into a “Regenerative” landscape. In this session you will learn about ways to increase the health and vitality of your school’s entire outdoor environment, lower water use, reduce chemical use, increase habitat and biodiversity, and boost carbon sequestration. You will learn about ways to manage turf without chemicals to provide safe, non-toxic fields for sports, all while complying with the State Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance, lowering overall maintenance costs, and providing valuable educational opportunities for both students and the community.

Attendees will learn:
• How to create a Regenerative campus landscape
• Affordable strategies for lowering water use campus wide
• Manage turf without chemicals for safe, non-toxic play
• Save landscape maintenance costs
• Increase the health and vitality of your environment
• Increase habitat and biodiversity
• Increase carbon sequestration
• Reduce chemical runoff

Presenters:
Suzanne Schrift, Landscape Architect, Bay-Friendly QLP, Certified Soil Foodweb Advisor, MIG
Darren Rector, Landscape Architect, MIG
James Pickel, Landscape Architect, MIG

Creating a Culture of Sustainability in Schools
Schools embrace new, innovative programs all the time. But keeping those programs alive and vibrant once they are established is another matter. Students and parents move on, budgets are cut, and programs are eliminated. Strategic Energy Innovations (SEI) and Green Schools Initiative (GSI) will share their approaches to building community, school culture and long-term commitments to sustainable practices. SEI will present its Green-Up America program, using examples from school districts in Palo Alto, San Francisco and San Rafael, CA where the "whole school community" was engaged to develop sustainability vision and action plans - starting small and culminating with larger projects around energy and waste reduction - that generated direct cost savings, quantifiable efficiency results and demonstrable changes in behavior. GSI will present its "7 Steps to a Green School" and explore model green school policies and Green Team action projects promoting green cleaning and green purchasing. Together they will tackle common obstacles and questions encountered by Green Teams - time, money, and bureaucracy - and share planning and audit tools that help schools succeed.

Presenters:
Deborah Moore, Executive Director, Green Schools Initiative
Sandy Wallenstein, Director of Education, Strategic Energy Innovations

Curriculum Track

The Edible School Garden - Incorporating California Standards-Based Learning in a Garden and Classroom Setting
Benefits of school gardens are myriad and include improved grades and standardized test scores in addition to enhanced physical and mental health. Obesity is at epidemic proportions in the majority of California elementary schools, and studies indicate that the greatest opportunity for lasting dietary change occurs before 6th grade. Providing elementary students with California standards-based curricula that ties in-class learning with an actual garden experience enhances learning in health and nutrition, natural and environmental science, math, language arts, and physical fitness. In addition, vegetable gardens provide yet another avenue to 'green' the school ground. University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) academics have developed garden-based curriculum that is being implemented throughout the state using a 'train the trainer' model in which teachers are trained by UCCE academics, who, in turn, incorporate it into interesting classroom learning modules. UCCE and academics from other universities have conducted research studies evaluating the effectiveness of garden-based curricula and measured its educational, nutritional, and psychological impacts. Examples of recent projects in California that will be reported on include work at Norton Space and Aeronautic Academy in San Bernardino and elementary schools in Davis and Riverside. In addition, UCCE and the San Bernardino City Unified School District is partnering to implement gardens and native greenbelts in a coordinated effort at several severely disadvantaged schools in the city. This comprehensive session will provide attendees with vital information including how to work with your local school district to locate and incorporate appropriate garden-based curricula and how to successfully grow warm and cool season vegetables in raised beds on school properties.

Presenters:
Janet Hartin, University of California Cooperative Extension, San Bernardino and Los Angeles Counties
Ying Wang, Sustainability Consultant, San Bernardino Unified School District
Susanne Carlson, University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener and School Administrator

Engaging Students in Energy Efficiency

This presentation will demonstrate how to creatively engage students/faculty in energy conservation. Maintaining an energy efficient school requires the sustained cooperation and effort of the building operations team, students and faculty members. Providing students with the opportunity to engage in the collection and analysis of energy data, as well as participating directly in the implementation of resource conservation measures, can motivate students to become environmental stewards. In order for students and staff to evaluate their efforts, however, timely feedback is needed on changes in daily energy consumption and water usage. Participants will learn creative ways to provide this real-time feedback and how to implement energy audit activities for students.

This session will provide information on how to integrate components of a Level 1 Energy Audit into core or enrichment curriculum, and demonstrate how interactive technology, specifically energy education dashboards, can communicate a school's real-time energy or water usage in a way that's easy for students to understand. Hands-on activities for measuring and analyzing energy consumption data will be discussed, as well as examples of student projects for developing and reporting energy/cost-saving recommendations. Real-world examples will illustrate how interactive quizzes, demonstrations, videos and more can creatively provide sustainable education.

Presenters:

Diane Dunnigan, Science Teacher, Marina Village Middle School, Rescue Union School District
Chad Mesenbrink, Account Executive, QA Graphics
Matt Fiene, Account Executive, QA Graphics

The California Education and the Environment Initiative
California's landmark Education and the Environment Initiative (EEI) Curriculum is increasing environmental literacy in classrooms today. Hear first-hand experiences from teachers currently implementing the EEI Curriculum and lessons learned from administrators. This K-12 curriculum is formally approved by the State Board of Education for use in classrooms statewide. It is composed of 85 individual curriculum units that are aligned to more than 100 selected Science and History-Social Science academic content standards, while supporting English Language Arts standards. The EEI Curriculum is relevant for students, flexible for teachers, engaging for all. It offers extensions to resources outside of the classroom, alternative and traditional assessments and more. It is serving as a model across the nation and internationally while it prepares today's students to become future scientists, economists, and green technology leaders.

Presenters:
Mindy Fox, Director, Office of Education and the Environment, California Environmental Protection Agency
Will Parish, Science Teacher, San Francisco Unified School District

October 18

Green Building Track

Sustainability Master Planning for Schools
A green school doesn’t happen overnight and requires planning, teamwork, community support and continuous ongoing effort. School districts typically develop strategic plans for their educational programs and facilities master plans. Developing a sustainability master plan incorporates some elements of both these processes and provides a framework for a school or district to move incrementally toward the transformation of their school into a green school.
Using examples from several school districts, the panel will demonstrate the elements of a sustainability master plan including: energy use and implementation of renewables, storm water management, water use, orientation of new buildings and additions to maximize ventilation, day lighting and views, education and integrated curriculum, and use of outdoor spaces and school gardens.

There are many resources available to school districts to assist with the development of their sustainability master plan, particularly with regard to facilities. The panel will discuss the use and application of each of these resources using example projects.

Presenters:
Julia Hawkinson, Senior Project Manager, Parsons
Eric Brossy de Dios, Senior Associate, Perkins+Will
Rob Samish, Senior Associate, Lionakis, Board of Directors, Collaborative for High Performance Schools
Virginia Hyatt, Purchasing Director and Sustainability Coordination, Santa Monica/Malibu Unified School District

The Road to Energy Independence

Zero Carbon Schools: Lessons from the UK
AECOM is part of the Target Zero Consortium, which provides guidance on the design and construction of sustainable, low and zero-carbon school buildings in the UK. Target Zero has recently completed a guidance for schools. This session presents the finding of this report. Using recently constructed typical school buildings as benchmarks, Target Zero has investigated three specific, priority areas of sustainable construction:

• Operational carbon - how operational energy use and associated carbon emissions can be reduced by incorporating appropriate and cost-effective energy efficiency measures and low and zero carbon (LZC) technologies

• How to achieve high ratings in green building standards such as LEED and BREEAM at lowest cost

• Embodied carbon - quantification of the embodied carbon of buildings particularly focusing on different structural forms.

The work has been undertaken by a consortium of leading organizations in the field of sustainable construction including AECOM.

Presenter:
Robert Buckley, Director of Sustainability, AECOM

Designing the Net-Zero School
The story, experiences, and challenges in building one of the first Net-Zero schools
In this informative and interactive session, speakers James Theimer, Principal of Trilogy Architects, and Patrick Ciccarelli, President of Varsity Technologies, discuss the thought and vision behind building one of the first Net-Zero schools in the country. The speakers will discuss their vision of holistic design for green schools and how the end product more closely represents the needs of students and the school.

Redding School of the Arts, a distinguished California charter school, has developed a clear vision around teaching and performing arts. That vision led to defining characteristics that would create a state-of-the-art facility that itself would pioneer learning and a connection to the environment. In this presentation, the speakers will discuss building design, building technology, education technology, instruction and curriculum, and information technology. School administrators, board members, and heads of schools are encouraged to join the session and share their questions and experiences.

Presenter:
James Theimer, Principal, Trilogy Architects
Patrick Ciccarelli, President, Varsity Technologies

Imagining New School Buildings for the Sustainable Future of the LA Unified School District
The session will include a presentation by Richard Luke, Los Angeles Unified School District Director of Design and A/E Technical Support about the ambition behind the 2010 LAUSD competition to design a prototypical K-12 school building. The prototypes are designed to be located on existing campuses at multiple sites throughout the District to co-host charter schools as well as to replace existing portable classroom trailers. The competition asked architects to envision a flexible and sustainable design that could be adapted to accommodate a variety of programs and learning spaces that can be built economically, quickly, and built en-masse. Currently, the three winning teams are fast at work in design development phase and the District plans to built 4 to 5 prototypes by the fall of 2013. And if that goes well, there could be many more to come. There will also be presentations of the winning schemes: The largely prefabricated, kit-of-parts schemes from local firms Hodgetts+Fung, Swift Lee Office (SLO), and Gonzalez Goodale Architects. The designs—which can be built quickly, cheaply, and en masse— range in size from 6,000 to 30,000 square feet and will be flexible, sustainable, adaptable and easy to maintain. And all three buildings are targeted to receive LEED certification from the USGBC.

Presenters:
Richard Luke, Director of Design and A/E Technical Support, Los Angeles Unified School District
Gloria Lee and Nathan Swift, Principals, Swift Lee Office, Inc.
Craig Hodgetts and Ming Fung, Principals, Hogetts + Fung Design and Architecture
Armando Gonzales and David Goodale, Principals, Gonzales Goodale Architects

Finance Track

How CHPS ORC and Other Programs Help Upgrade Existing Schools
San Bernardino City Unified School District is in need of modernization for majority of their facilities. Most schools are built more than 30 years ago; few facilities are without air-conditioning; many are loaded with aging portables. With the goal of using readymade programs to assist bench marking, funding and define the modernization program, the District is using the Operational Report Card from the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) with 13 schools to upgrade HVAC systems. The CHPS ORC is applied before and after HVAC projects implemented. Utility bills from electricity, gas and water for the last three years are collected and analyzed. The unit consumption based on square foot and numbers of student is established. We use those data to help with the engineering design. Savings By Design and the High Performance School Grant are integrated into modernization program. Other funding and partnering opportunities are pursued consistently to increase the value of the modernization. Attendees will learn how to use readymade programs to assist facilities planning.

Presenters:
Ying Wang, Sustainability Consultant
William Orr, Executive Director, Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS)
Wael Elatar, Assistant Superintendant, Beaumont Unified School District

Lifecycle Costing: Investing in High Performance Upgrades in a Down Economy
Investing in school equipment upgrades? Before you write the next check, consider lifecycle costs and performance. The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) presents a new business case for investing in upgrades and lifecycle costing to create high performance schools, even in a down economy. Workshop participants will understand how high performance products fit in to their life-cycle cost analysis, and will learn new methods of considering costs and benefits of design upgrades for their school projects.

Presenter:
William Orr, Executive Director, Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS)

Evaluating New Green Products
Over the course of the last ten years LAUSD has approved countless products as part of its New School Construction and Modernization Program. These products are range from completely new to the market to improvements on existing technologies. This panel made up of various members of LAUSD’s Facilities Division and Office of Environmental Health and Safety will discuss the process and procedures LAUSD uses for evaluating new products, with a focus on green/sustainable products.
Attendees will:
• gain a greater understanding of the process and procedure of product evaluation from several different facilities perspectives.
• learn about the basic requirements (evaluation criteria) for new products coming into LAUSD.
• gain a broader understanding of the factors involved in evaluating the “green” factor of a product.

Presenters:
Mohammad Kashani Jou, AIA, LEED AP, Design & Technical Specifications Coordinator, Los Angeles Unified School District/FSD-Asset Management Design Standards
Jennifer Flores, Environmental Health Supervisor, Office of Environmental Health and Safety, Los Angeles Unified School District

Curriculum Track

Think Outside the Books: Moving Curriculum Outside of the Classroom
Some of life’s most important lessons are learned outside of the classroom. This session will teach you how to create a curriculum program that incorporates hands-on, real-world experience to engage students in new ways while preparing them for future career paths. Our expert panel will provide valuable information and present Project Lead the Way as a best practice case study of effective curriculum development. Project Lead the Way is a hands-on, project-based engineering and bio-medical course program designed to engage students on multiple levels, expose them to areas of study that they typically do not pursue and provide them with a foundation and proven path to college and career success.

Panelists will focus on Project Lead the Way’s implementation as part of Sweetwater Union High School District’s Regional Occupational Program (ROP) at Hilltop High School. This pilot program has allowed students at Hilltop High School to gain first-hand experience with construction management, architecture and green building practices. When paired with the existing ROP curriculum, Project Lead the Way provides a unique way for students to apply real world experiences with classroom learning, while at the same time exposing them to diverse career choices. Upon completion of Project Lead the Way, students have the opportunity to apply for internships with companies performing work within SUHSD. This session will give you the tools you need to “think outside the books” and successfully create your own innovative curriculum program.

Presenters:
Jaime Ortiz, Bond Program Manager, Sweetwater Union High School District
Rafael Parra, Program Manager, SGI Construction Management, Sweetwater Union High School District
Hon. Pearl Quinoñes, Vice President, Board of Trustees, Sweetwater Union High School District

Energy Efficiency and Curriculum

Integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
into Energy Efficiency Education
With school districts in California facing sharp budget cuts, families across the country shouldering ever-increasing energy costs, and the risks of climate change continuing unabated, the need for increased energy efficiency at school and at home could not be greater. The Alliance to Save Energy’s Green Schools Program is leading the way by working with students, teachers, custodians and district administrators to save energy and money, while turning schools into learning laboratories and forging pathways to green careers. This session will highlight the importance of STEM education and experiential learning in achieving a more energy efficient economy. We will share our successes in working with schools to achieve this goal. Attendees will be presented with examples of energy efficiency lessons, aligned to California educational standards and STEM principles that have worked to educate students on energy efficiency and reduce schools’ immediate energy consumption. Attendees will learn how the Green Schools Program empowers students to take on leadership roles within their schools and communities. Attendees will also learn about Green Schools activities that expand students’ understanding and interest in green careers.

Presenters:
Jennifer Alvarez, Project Manager, Alliance to Save Energy
Diane Pitzler, Teacher, Buena Vista High School

“Energy and You” K-12 Energy Education for the 21st Century
Students in our schools need to be prepared to live in a post fossil fuel world. Energy efficiency and conservation can significantly improve the approaching transition. Participants will be introduced to a comprehensive K-12 energy efficiency and conservation classroom curriculum developed by the San Diego County Office of Education. Lessons include hands-on activities, take-home activities, and interactive DVDs. Students who experience the lessons will take their knowledge home and help change efficiency and conservation behaviors. Teacher professional development, which is a key component of the program, is now available on-line. The project website, www.k12e3.org, that supports parents, teachers, and students will be shared.

Presenters:
Kim Bess, Energy Education Coordinator, San Diego County Office of Education
Katie Shanahan, Energy Education Program Specialist, San Diego County Office of Education

Implementing a Green Curriculum: Strategies and Success Stories
Sustainability is being implemented into K-12 curriculum and being tied to state standards at all grade levels across California. Students are actively participating and often demanding that green curriculum be incorporated. Green curriculum bridges across all subject areas and encourages holistic thinking and offers opportunities for creative problem solving. Service projects and service learning are an essential elements of green curriculum and give students the opportunities to address real world problems.

The panel, organized by the Green Schools Committee at the Northern California US Green Building Council, draws from a variety of professions: teaching, school administration, school district management, and sustainability consulting. Each panelist will briefly describe their individual perspective and experiences involving sustainability curriculum, including how they overcame any obstacles that they have experienced. The panel will then engage in a productive, inter-disciplinary conversation about advancing sustainability programs in schools.

Presenters:
Duke Graham, Senior Associate, Gaia Development
J. Gonzalez, Office of Curriculum, Instruction and School Support, Los Angeles Unified School District
Bertha Roman, Santa Monica/Malibu Unified School District
Jay Benoit, Environmental Studies Teacher, Marshall High School, Los Angeles Unified School District
John Zinner, Principal, Zinner Consultants