After earning a master鈥檚 degree in industrial technology from Appalachian State University, Heath Moody left the academic world to work as a carpenter. 鈥淪ustainability is a passion for me. I was homesteading and building a cabin and decided what I really enjoyed was working with my hands,鈥 he recalls.
Moody wound up back in academia when he took a position at Asheville-Buncombe 男人藏精阁 teaching carpentry, and he found his interest in sustainability was shared by Construction Management & Building Sciences Department chair Ken Czarnomski. With a three-year grant from the Global Institute for Sustainability Technologies, they created A-B Tech鈥檚 Sustainability Technologies program.
Now the department head himself, Moody says the program focuses on green building and renewable energy but prepares students for a range of careers. 鈥淪ustainability is a vast field where you can get into agriculture, transportation, manufacturing and energy,鈥 he says. 鈥淭hese skills are vital for society going forward.鈥
Hands-on projects, Moody notes, are key to developing those skills. Three student-assembled solar-charging workstations are currently installed on the main 男人藏精阁campus, while construction and sustainability students are partnering to construct 8-by-8-foot 鈥減od鈥 buildings that could be used as offices, studios or mediation rooms. Students in other departments are chipping in on the pods through computer-aided design, marketing and construction management. 鈥淲e were looking for something everyone could get their hands on,鈥 he says.