Photo of students walking through campusPhoto of students walking through campus

Green Community

The National Building Museum's new exhibition emphasizes the big picture of the green movement

 

Update

The Green Community exhibition, created by the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., closed on November 29, 2009. To learn more about the museum and exhibition, visit www.nbm.org.

California, PA - Green Community is the first major exhibition in the United States to explore the complex process of creating and sustaining healthy communities. Created by the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., Green Community features the new state-of-the-art residence halls at California University of Pennsylvania as an example of using geothermal technology to harness energy.

Geothermal technology reaches deep underground and taps the earth's constant temperature to reduce the need for fossil fuels and creates lower heating and air-conditioning costs. The same ground that once was mined for coal now is a source of clean, renewable energy. As part of a campus-wide green and sustainable building technologies initiative, the University has replaced all of the residence halls in less than a four year period.

The world class facilities provide the best in student housing and the new geothermal technologies have helped California University reduce power consumption to 57% less energy (Btu's per square foot) than the average of the 14 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education schools.

Green Community, a yearlong exhibition, opens October 23, 2008 at the National Building Museum and is the third in the Museum's series of exhibitions focused on sustainability in architecture, planning, and design. The presenting sponsor of Green Community is the American Planning Association. Major funding is provided by The American Public Transportation Association; The Nathan Cummings Foundation; Discovery Communications; U.S. Department of Energy; James G. Davis Construction Corporation; The Tower Companies; U.S. Green Building Council; and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; among others. The Sustainable Communities Lecture Series is sponsored by United Technologies Corporation.

McGraw-Hill Construction is the official media partner. Sustainability initiatives at the National Building Museum are generously supported by The Home Depot Foundation.