Professors Thanos Tzempelikos, Panagiota Karava and Jim Braun from CE, together with Prof. Patricia Davies (ME) and Prof. Robert Proctor (PSYCH) formed a Purdue team that received one of the six grants awarded from the new Pillars of Sustainable Education program. The Purdue project is focused on sustainable building systems, indoor environmental conditions and human interaction with buildings in order to develop better design guidelines and operational strategies.

Architecture for Humanity and Alcoa Foundation came together to support the realization of community-based projects that explore innovations in design, materials and building systems. This cross-sector collaboration between Alcoa, Alcoa Foundation, Architecture for Humanity and seven universities in five countries will work to educate the next generation of architects, engineers and material designers while supporting real-world design-build projects that positively impact both the environment and the local community.

Pillars of Sustainable Education highlights four areas of focus for grant recipients: Education, Sustainable and Integrated Design; Actionable Solutions; and Community Impact. Each university is integrating curriculum on the uses of sustainable materials in building systems and partnering with a local nonprofit organization to take their lessons in material innovation and apply them to real-world projects. The program will assist in sharing research, applications and materials across both professional and academic channels and ultimately, support the realization of real-world community-based projects.