Mt. Hood College offers sustainability school

Now in second year, program is only one like it in Portland-metro area

By Kari Hastings

The Gresham Outlook, Aug 25, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Kim Hughes of Barnard-Hughes Group teaches a nine-month class on sustainability at the Bruning Allied Health Center.

Vern Uyetake / The Gresham Outlook

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As awareness about the benefits of sustainability grows, more and more companies are looking at how they can implement environmentally friendly practices. It’s a whole new world of information and a new way of looking at things.

Mt. Hood Community College’s professional development department is stepping in to meet professionals’ needs with a nine-month course taught by Kim Hughes of the Barnard-Hughes Group.

Called the Sustainable Building Advisor Certificate Program, it has a broad appeal and a common goal – to understand the key practices of sustainable building. The course explores this with expert guest speakers, hands-on field trips, projects and written papers.

Most of its students include architects, engineers, developer representatives, project managers, resource conservation specialists and other building industry professionals.

Stephan Lashbrook, Lake Oswego’s director of community development, took the course last year and found himself a student again, complete with homework, papers and assignments.

Despite the time commitment – the class is taught one weekend a month, for eight hours both days, over nine months – he said it was worth every minute and every penny.

“It was that valuable,” he said. “I was lucky enough to have my employer pay for it, but knowing what I know now, it would have been worth it to pay for it myself.”

Lake Oswego is reassessing how it deals with its stormwater and looking ahead to things like “green streets,” which are built with pervious material, allowing water to absorb, Lashbrook says.

“As a city, we’re saying, ‘What are we going to do differently?’ We’re asking, ‘What’s the environmentally sound way to deal with this?’ ” he says. “In master planning, it’s already obvious, we’re looking at more green streets, more grassy swells, natural bio-remediation, more on-site stormwater containment. It’s completely different than the old days.”

Different, indeed. Which is where Hughes’ program comes in. Barbara Hoffstetter, MHCC’s supervisor of professional development and community education, says she was thrilled to get Hughes’ program offered in Gresham.

“This seemed like a really good idea, because the college would like to get more involved in sustainable practices and training,” Hoffstetter said.

Last year, the class, which initially had 30 openings, grew to 34. This year, 20 people are already enrolled. The class starts in October and runs through June 2007.

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