Featured Course:
BC 5134 - Sustainable Facility Systems - Greenbuild 2010 Field Trip

In Fall 2010, ten students taking BC 5134 took a field trip to Chicago to volunteer and attend the GreenBuild Conference and to conduct a study on project manufacturers’ claims related to green building products. There’s truly nothing like a ten hour plus van ride to truly get to know each other! 

M.S. Students Chayanika
Mitra and Viveka Nalluri (photo)
worked together with M.S.
student Naveen Sadhi and Ph.D.
student Sandeep Langar to
design the manufacturer claims
study and received Institutional
Review Board approval of all
survey protocols used. All ten
students plus Dr. Pearce
conducted video interviews of
selected companies exhibiting
their products at the GreenBuild
Trade Show. Companies were
asked to describe their products and answer the question, “What makes your product green?” The 2010 study was a sequel to an earlier study investigating manufacturer perceptions. The study will be repeated over time to evaluate how manufacturers’ perceptions of their products’ green attributes change over time.

Students also worked as USGBC volunteers at the conference in exchange for admission to the sessions and trade show.