BRB Architects’ design for a new campus center at Molloy College is representative of a larger trend in campus planning: the shift from a commuter-only campus to a 24/7 community.

This brief highlights the approaches of three community colleges to "greening" their operations, curricula, and communities, while simultaneously addressing local and regional employment and environmental needs. The community colleges featured in this brief are: (1) Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico; (2) Central Piedmont Community College in North Carolina; and (3) Clover Park Technical College in Washington State. 20p

Slide show of projects underway on nine campuses of the Los Angeles Community College District.

In this collection, leaders in sustainability at 15 community colleges join the editors in highlighting effective and promising practices central to the triple bottom line of sustainability: environmentalism, economics, and social equity. Chapters include: Working Toward Improved Sustainability in the Management of Facilities and Grounds; Sustainability, LEED and Beyond; History of Energy Conservation Promotes a Green Future. 64p

Presents a video tour of the Annette B. Weyerhaeuser Early Learning Center at Tacoma Community College. Flexibility is accommodated in each classroom, and easy maintenance and outdoor learning areas are featured. Plans and renderings are included in the video.

Presents examples of innovative new educational facilities, organized by the architectural firms that designed them. The examples are largely higher education projects in the United States, with a few K-12 projects included. A short description of each project is accompanied by photographs. 258p.

Discusses the transformation of the Connecticut Community College System through adaptive reuse of an abandoned suburban mall.

Describes new student center and library on the main campus of Albuquerque's community college that contains a variety of sustainable features and student-oriented spaces.

A fragile economy forces many community colleges to confront a paradoxical challenge: accommodate surging enrollments while responding to shrinking state funding. From a design and construction standpoint, many community colleges have continued to evolve despite their economy-induced tribulations. The strategies they have employed range from utilization studies to campus-wide building programs.

Community colleges face unprecedented demand and budget challenges. Describes how design serves higher education’s fastest-growing sector.

Describes how a community college in Kansas is slashing its energy bills with a $2.7 million infrastructure overhaul. Utilizing energy performance contracting and a tax-exempt financing program, upfront costs for the overhaul have been practically nil, while savings are "growing exponentially" all over the campus.

Profiles this semi-rural conference center situated on a campus between two North Carolina cities, and providing sophisticated conference spaces that include the latest audio-visual and technological tools. Building statistics, a list of the project participants, cost details, a floor plan, and photographs are included.

Discusses the renovation of an historic building in downtown Portland that brings together Portland Community College (Ore.) administrators. The four-story, 44,000-square-foot building houses five departments; a multipurpose room could serve as a classroom. Current or new prospective students can walk in and register.

A six-part series investigates how tens of millions of dollars was wasted in a Los Angeles Community College District $5.7 billion project to rebuild its nine campuses for the 21st century.

Profiles two new community college academic buildings that feature numerous sustainability features.

Profiles the two main winners in this competition: Utah's Legacy Junior High School and Pennsylvania's Bucks County Community College expansion. These were chosen for functionality, frugality, design features and balance, ability to inspire learning, and flexibility. Photographs, building statistics, and a list of project participants accompany the text.

Describes three Washington community colleges whose campus plans have been reworked according to the campus context, and attention to community.

Describes how two rural community college expanded their distance learning facilities. The problems faced by the present systems, the solutions, and outsourcing where necessary are described.

Profiles this project that transformed the image of this institution from an industrial expression to a more collegiate, higher education look. Building statistics, a list of the project participants, cost details, plans, and photographs are included.

Profiles this addition that wrapped the existing campus, a former shopping mall, with new facilities that give the institution a street presence and provided state of the art classrooms and amenities. Building statistics, a list of the project participants, cost details, a floor plan, and photographs are included.

Discusses the recent surge in demand for instructional space at community colleges, which are experiencing rapid increases in enrollment, from the unemployed to those seeking continuing education and higher education at an affordable price. Conversion of existing non-instructional space into classrooms is highlighted.

Describes how community colleges are increasingly building full-service facilities similar to those of four-year institutions.

Describes the historic cosmopolitan connection between cities and universities, discusses the global forces affecting that relationship today, and offers case illustrations of campus-oriented civic relations associated with the Sorbonne, MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of South Carolina.

Discusses strategies for managing security issues at two-year institutions,including using smart ID cards that control entrance and exit points, and increasing their use of security cameras. Capital expenses could also be involved, such as the need for a generator to provide a redundant power source for an emergency communication system.

Profiles this addition to an disliked, sprawling, one-story community college that offers a lively atrium and easier wayfinding to student services, laboratories, and classrooms.

Profiles the conversion of an office complex into a Houston Community College campus. Finishes that were preserved and enlivening of the interior spaces are described.

Advocates of campus housing at community colleges suggest that dorms are an effective means of replicating a full college experience at a lower price. In the author's opinion, community colleges should focus on the transfer, technical education, and work-force needs of the community, not attempt to be knockoffs of more-prestigious four-year institutions. The author offers a few examples of his own experiences with dorms at a community college to illustrate that building dorms at community colleges bring nothing but trouble.

Reviews the advent of sustainable school design from a "cult topic" to a standard in the last five years. While only 120 K-12 facilities have received LEED certification so far, more than 1,000 schools under construction have applied for it. The aggressively "green" building program of the Los Angeles Community College District is profiled. Advice on avoiding "greenwashing," or billing of products as environmentally conscious when they are not, is included, along with considerations for when to pursue or not pursue LEED certification.

Profiles three new community college academic buildings, all of which feature comfortable classrooms, sophisticated technology, natural lighting, and acoustical isolation.

Describes how the authors have, by making learning spaces an issue, opened the door for a meaningful institutional dialogue on the quality of teaching at Butler Community College, the role space and technology play in student engagement, and the dynamics of the student-teacher relationship. With learning spaces becoming a strategic priority, Butler pulled together a learning spaces design team with a dozen members representing students, faculty, instructional administration, facilities, student services, research and planning, and technology. Their three-year project will establish guidelines and an implementation plan for engaging, state-of-the-art learning spaces that promote student success. Includes 17 tables.