Black Rock Forest Consortium
Green Building and Smart Features

 

Both the Center for Science and Education and the Forest Lodge were built using green building, or sustainable design, principles.  Among their many features are the solar panels on the roof of the Science Center and the geothermal heating and cooling system pictured above.

Teachers and students in a number of disciplines have incorporated study of these buildings, and data collected about their environmental conditions and performance, into their classes and projects.

  • Tours of the buildings and their “green” features can be used in civics, environmental science, and architecture classes. 
  • Information from the building’s sensors, solar panel network, and geothermal heat pump system has been used in physics and environmental science classes.
  • The wood from Black Rock Forest’s own trees has been studied in math classes. 
  • Surface water (from reservoirs) and ground water (from wells) supplies to the buildings, and their parameters and fluctuations, can be studied in earth and environmental science and chemistry classes.

Some of these data are available through this web site and all can be obtained from the Forest Data/Network Manager.