Faculty and students develop new resources for annual sustainability travel studies

For 15 years the Institute for Sustainable Practice has been taking students to see firsthand the practice of sustainable communities on its summer study trips to New England and Texas.

Over the past two years, Dodd Galbreath, professor and founding director of the institute, along with students Sam Kuhn (’22), and Abigail Miller, then-junior, have been working to make the trip an even better learning opportunity by developing a case study handbook for students.

As the practice of sustainability has grown over the years, “the complexity of the trip has grown exponentially,” said Galbreath. “Students were telling me that they were struggling to take it all in.”

Galbreath and the students mapped all the sustainable organizations in the target regions and then collected various relevant metrics on each, such as kilowatts used, certifications earned or LEED scores. They developed a site analysis workbook with a summary, learning objective and a unique checklist for each site visited.

The intent is for students to have a visual cue to assess the big picture. The case study handbook sparks conversation about why one organization has many or few metrics checked off or what does the number of items checked say about the organization’s priorities or its timeline for development.

Appendices also include a guide to Vermont sustainability laws, a list of all the biofuel-based electricity plants in New England and maps of all the towns visited with sustainable aspects of those towns highlighted.

“It’s like a textbook for a living case study,” said Galbreath.