Students Get Environment Lessons at InPro's 'School of Green'

InPro Corporation wants to show middle school students that "environmentally-friendly" means more than "reduce, reuse, recycle."

The company hosted nearly 200 local eighth-grade students last week for its School of Green workshop, which shows how building and lifestyle choices affect the health of the planet.

"We designed this program to change the way students look at the buildings they use every day," said Zoran Krecak, Education Market Manager for InPro Corporation, in a news release. "Without this workshop, most of them would never learn about the environmental impact of building materials and designs, and they'd never be able to distinguish truly responsible companies from ones who merely claim to be green."

The workshop was held at InPro's Muskego headquarters, with 90 students from Lake Denoon Middle School in a morning session and 90 more in the afternoon.

Students took a quiz at the beginning of each session testing their knowledge of sustainable practices, then worked with InPro's 21 LEED-certified associates to evaluate hypothetical building plans and rate them according to their sustainability.

Rob Cassidy, editor-in-chief of Building Design & Construction Magazine, helped evaluate students' scores and choose winning teams in each session. Students took the quiz again at the end to reveal what they learned.

InPro has an internal committee focusing on its own energy consumption that has spearheaded several initiatives at the company's campus in Musekgo, according to a news release. Those include replacing heaters and toilets with more environmentally-friendly versions.