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Sustainability at CPCC
Documents the efforts over the past year by CPCC to not only increase environmental education in the Charlotte region, but also to "walk the talk," moving the college as a whole towards sustainability.
Central Piedmont Community College
Green Non-Profit Educational Program of the Year
Background and Justification
For the past two years, CPCC’s Futures Institute has been researching a growing trend toward environmental sustainability. The sustainability movement is gaining momentum locally, nationally and internationally, and is being driven by two powerful engines: 1. a growing environmental consciousness that started as a grassroots movement and has quickly become a major topic of social and political debate, and 2. the strong business case presented by adopting environmentally friendly technologies and practices.
These dramatic changes in our society and within our business practices are expected to create an enormous demand for training at the community college level. It has been estimated that in Mecklenburg County alone, there will be substantial increases in manufacturing jobs in the following energy sectors: Wind; 2,885 jobs, Solar; 428 jobs, Geothermal; 1,154 jobs, and Biomass; 389 jobs, for a total of 4,856 “Green Collar Jobs”. There is already a significant increase in the need for eco-friendly construction managers, clean energy auditors, air quality engineers, agriculture inspectors, and bio-technicians in the food and chemical industries. As a leader in workforce development, CPCC plans to be the regional leader in providing this training.
Creating a Center for Sustainability
In order to respond to the powerful and growing trend of environmental sustainability, and to successfully meet the need for training, we created a Center for Sustainability in 2007 with the following program goals:
To increase community awareness of the importance of living and working in an ecologically responsible manner. *Earth Day *Seminars *Publications *Speaker Series
To conduct continuing education training and seminars for the general public which focus on teaching people how to live in an environmentally friendly manner *Organic gardening *smart houses *composting *home insulation *automated lighting *backyard habitats, etc.
To conduct training sessions for professionals in the construction industry, engineering, information technology, environmental impact compliance courses, Leeds certification training, etc.
To increase the presence and perspective of environmental sustainability into our curriculum programs--- alternative fuels and energy sources, sound architectural and building practices, environmentally friendly materials, scientific environmental impact studies, sustainable horticulture practices, liberal arts, and business.