Would you like to find out what the “green” movement is all about and learn new skills to enhance your career? If so, the Green Technologies Academy at DeKalb Technical College is the place to go.
The academy is offering a certificate of credit designed to ground students in the principles of green technology. The 18-month-old academy is a unique model for the Technical College System of Georgia.
“This is a departure from our core mission to prepare students with a specific skill set to work in a specific job,” said Brian Lovell, director of the Green Technologies Academy. “This green technology certificate alone doesn’t yet lead to a career, but it could definitely make you more marketable if you’re in the fields of commercial refrigeration, air-conditioning technology, electronics, building automation systems, computer graphics and design, or automotive technology.”
With more companies and industries becoming more sustainable and eco-friendly, Lovell hopes to see enough sustainable jobs in the next 10 years to support a diploma or degree program in green technologies. Another five or six courses are already in development.
“Meanwhile, we’re giving students in other programs workers in various industries and entrepreneurs looking to start sustainable businesses a taste of the green movement. We’re covering the breadth of research and applications in this fast-evolving field,” he said.
To earn the certificate, students take about two semesters of courses, at a cost of about $3,000. They begin with a course in sustainable concepts.
“It’s a basic science course that will include basic information about the carbon cycle and other cycles in nature, as well as an introduction into population growth, pollution, renewable forms of energy and biodiversity,” Lovell said.
A second course covers renewable energies and how they work. Students learn about solar, solar/thermal, wind energy, hydroelectricity, nuclear energy and wave energy.
In the sustainable buildings class, students examine what makes a building efficient and how to rate a building for its consumption of power, according to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards.
“Heating and cooling buildings uses more power than any other sector in our economy, with transportation running a close second,” Lovell said.
The final course is on sustainable communication. Students take a topic such as energy auditing, green refrigerants or alternative fuels and write a thesis, which they present to DeKalb Tech faculty and others.
“We want them to be comfortable talking about green technologies and be able to develop and make a point,” Lovell said.
To complete the certificate of credit, students also take courses in college English, microcomputers and either an elective class in technical writing or speech.
The academy is in Building C on DeKalb Tech’s Clarkston campus.
For information, call DeKalb Tech at 404-297-9522 and ask for admissions, or email Brian Lovell at lovellb@dekalbtech.edu.
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