BUILDINGChicago/Greening the Heartland Conference 'call for 2014 educational proposals' is now open

The Advisory Committee of the BUILDINGChicago/Greening the Heartland 2014 Conference is now accepting proposals for presenters and topics.

Now in its second year, the event is sponsored by Building Design+Construction magazine, AIA Chicago, the Builders Association, USGBC-Illinois, and the Greening the Heartland Committee. It will take place September 29-October 1, 2014, at North America’s largest LEED Gold-certified hotel, the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza.

The BUILDINGChicago track will provide a wide variety of educational and networking opportunities built upon BD+C’s strong track record of high-quality, AIA-accredited education through its BD+C University. The online university offers a convenient educational platform, available 24/7 from anywhere in the world, to architects, engineers, contractors, and building owners/developers who specialize in the commercial, industrial, and institutional markets.

The Greening the Heartland track will explore interdependent elements of sustainability. Green buildings are critical components in the design of sustainable communities that rely on pathways and infrastructure—watts, water, waste, and wheels. Providing buildings with clean energy, clean water, and efficient use of materials, while minimizing waste, results in truly green buildings and sustainable developments that bring people together to work, play, learn, and live.

All proposals must be submitted online at BuildingChicagoExpo.com. Submitters may return to their uploaded and saved proposals for editing any time up until the submission deadline of midnight, CST, February 28, 2014. Faxed or mailed proposals will not be accepted. For more information, contact Harry Urban, SGC/SGC Horizon vice president of events, at hurban@sgcmail.com; 847.954.7928.

Before you get your shorts in a knot, I have nothing against science, technology, engineering, or even mathematics; to the contrary, I love all four “STEM” disciplines (I’m lying about the math). But I question whether we need to be building K-12 schools that overly emphasize or are totally devoted to STEM.

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