India: USGBC announced launching a LEED Lab in India, and it has been adopted by Knowledge Institute of Technology (KIOT), in Salem, Tamil Nadu. An interactive multidisciplinary immersion course, the LEED Lab, the announcement said, utilises the built environment to educate and prepare students to become Green Building leaders and sustainability-focused citizens, and, it added, will allow students to jump-start their careers upon graduation, and participation in the course will serve as inspiration to other Indian colleges for adoption.

In the LEED Lab course, the announcement revealed, students will learn the principles of LEED and assess the performance of existing facilities on campus, choosing one building, where they will facilitate the LEED Building Operations and Maintenance (LEED O+M) process. Students will drive the complete process of LEED O+M on a campus facility, with the goal of certifying the building, it added.

Through participating in the LEED Lab, students, the Council highlighted, are also equipped with career-ready skills, knowledge and expertise that can be quickly deployed upon completion of the course. LEED Lab also meets the demands of the market, by providing students with actual LEED project experience and an opportunity to experiment on ways to certify existing campus facilities through direct collaboration with faculty and a third-party Green organisation, said the Council.

By participating in the course, and eventually certifying a building to LEED O+M, USGBC said that campuses across the globe can ensure their buildings maintain and improve current performance over time. It added that the implementation of LEED O+M reduces the environmental impact of buildings and grounds, has a positive effect on student, faculty and staff health, and prepares students to be global sustainability citizens.

“LEED Lab is a key educational tool to prepare students for competitive 21^st century careers in sustainability,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, COO, USGBC, and President, Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI). “By educating the next generation of sustainability advocates in India, KIOT is committed to transforming existing campus facilities across India into more sustainable environments, while also providing students with the hands-on-experiences required to enter the workforce. I want to thank KIOT’s principal, Dr. P.S.S. Srinivasan, and the rest of the leadership at KIOT, for partnering with us to nurture and train a workforce that will be essential to addressing India’s future sustainability needs.”