November 2011

The Canada/European Union Exchange project's "Energy Efficiency in the Built Environment", second exchange took place this October/November in Halifax hosted by NSCC's Waterfront Campus. Students from the Insitute of Technology Carlow in Ireland and the Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen in the Netherlands, joined NSCC students and faculty from the School of Trades and Technology, to take part in the exchange. The students were divided into several groups and given a project designing energy efficient solutions for a couple of residential homes in the Halifax area. The exchange uses a project-based learning approach to engage the students in working together towards an end result.

The exchange was extremely successful, as the Nova Scotia students took pride in hosting their European counterparts. Several tours of local companies and guest lecturers, as well as social events were also arranged throughout the 3 week exchange program. The students presented their final projects in their groups in front of a full audience at the Waterfront Campus on November 3rd, 2011. As students look towards the next exchange, taking place in Ireland (February/March 2012), they leave Nova Scotia with memories of hockey, poutine, new friends and the inspiring learning journey they experienced! Below are some blog/journal entries from the students themselves. . .enjoy!

Working with international students was a great experience. I gained an international perspective on building systems, the built environment, and different cultures. EEBE also gave me the opportunity to work with students from different educational disciplines. We all had different strengths, and we learned a lot from each other because of this. Energy Sustainability Engineering Technology is a new field and I will be working with many different disciplines in my future, so it was great to experience that before graduating.

- Fin MacDonald, NSCC Student, Energy Sustainability Engineering Technology, Annapolis Valley Campus