The Gereau Center for Applied Technology
and Career Exploration
The Center for Energy Efficient Design (CEED), on
the campus of The Leonard A. Gereau Center for Applied Technology
& Career Exploration, includes learning laboratories for hands-on
instruction and projects related to building design and advanced
systems features. The building is a demonstration of environmental
design concepts as well as energy-efficient systems. The following
concepts and applications are demonstrated in the CEED: wind systems,
solar thermal systems, passive cooling and thermal mass, natural
ventilation, lighting control systems, shading and properties of
glass, photovoltaics, geothermal energy, grey and rain water recycling,
sustainable building materials, and PassivHaus design. The systems
are monitored and analyzed to be incorporated into learning modules.
The CEED is a teaching tool for students in the Franklin
County Public School System in Virginia. The programs are also available
to students from other school districts. In addition to student
use, the building is open to the general public to learn about ways
to incorporate energy-efficient principles in their current homes
and in homes that they are planning to build. Builders and contractors
who want to see systems in action can also come to the CEED to advance
their knowledge. CEED's website will post current data gathered
from the monitoring systems for students to remotely conduct studies
on the energy production and energy use of the building.
Looking more like a corporate headquarters than a
school, The Gereau Center
for Applied Technology and Career Exploration
is nestled in Franklin County, 20 miles south of Roanoke, Virginia,
and just south of the Blue Ridge Mountains in southwestern Virginia.
The building's corporate look and feel are part of an intentional
design to expose students to a type of work environment with which
they are not already familiar. The mission of the school is to guide
students in thorough explorations of careers so they will be well-informed
as they make education and life choices.
The Gereau Center offers Franklin County's student
population experience with new information-based technologies that
are not widely represented among the area's industry base. The Gereau
Center's uniqueness is derived from the way district leaders were
able to envision changes in the skills necessary for the emerging
work force and bring together several components at once:
- Curriculum development.
- State-of-the-art hardware and software.
- Parent and industry involvement.
- A building designed to support the infusion of technology into
learning.
The Gereau Center embraces broad objectives that
affect all students across many disciplines. Students are immersed
in problem-based activities that require them to seek answers to
real-world problems. This unique facility also serves as a community
and business resource. Parts of the building are available for community
meetings, video-conferencing, and distance learning. The Gereau
Center truly increases the opportunity for continued learning for
people throughout the community and across all age groups.
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