One of the best ways to afford positive change in the construction industry is to send the next generation of builders out into the field with the desire and necessary knowledge to build something better. TheNew Frontiers School Board (NFSB)in Ormstown, QC is doing just that.

The'Our House' projectis an ambitious undertaking that is making big waves in the school board and the community as a whole, but nowhere more than in the halls of the school. It's probably a mix of the high-profile nature of the project, the idea of building something that outperforms other homes, and the fact that the work they do will end up giving two families in need an exceptional quality home.

The school has fully embraced theLEED green building rating system(三名教师已经获得了LEED认证)，他们正在给学生一个机会，让他们参与注册的LEED房屋建筑项目。拥有项目经验对于获得LEED证书是至关重要的，但这种机会并不总是那么容易找到，所以这是NFSB学生想通过获得绿色建筑证书在他们的职业生涯中脱颖而出的另一个优势。

随着培训教师和学生成为LEED认证，Ecohome从一开始就很高兴成为设计团队的一部分，看到学生的参与水平和兴趣一直在激励和回报。

"The 'Our House' project has served an invaluable purpose in the life of the Carpentry Program at our Centre. Students know that working on the project is not a right, but a privilege - a way to learn new and exciting strategies, techniques and processes.”says LEED AP-certified teacher John Hodges.

“There is a definite buzz of interest in the build, and students know that if they do not do their class projects, or if they have poor attendance, or if they are struggling with the material in their modules, they will not be invited to participate in the build. We seem to have been able to work out a way to support students' regular learning, while offering a substantive enrichment project that elevates the life and culture of the Centre and underscores the regular material of the program through project-based learning.”

Due to Quebec union regulations, students can't get onto an actual building site to gain experience, so the school has had to design a modular home that could be pre-fabricated in the school and shipped to the building site for assembly.

To further complicate matters, homes forHabitat for Humanityhave to meet the specific needs of individual families. Without having a family selected meant a certain amount of flexibility had to be factored in during the design phase to make final adjustments for occupants who may have special needs.

Because of those many design challenges and having to squeeze this build into a school curriculum, dealing with the logistics and red tape of this groundbreaking initiative has inevitably resulted in many delays - but the time is finally here. So, to get back in the groove, we are reposting episode 1 of the video series the school has already begun and we’ll continue to update the project as the build progresses.