UMD Sustainability Cooperative (SCoop) Forms Around LEAFHouse

LEAFHOUSE has lately become a hub of University of Maryland student activity, which is likely to intensify over the coming year thanks to the newly formed Sustainability Cooperative, or SCoop for short. The group has already held a Saturday afternoon meet-and-greet and an initial organizing meeting at LEAFHouse, and is seeking Student Government Association recognition as an official campus group, which will allow it to submit proposals for campus sustainability grants.

SCoop comprises representatives of nearly 20 sustainability-focused University groups, led by the American Ecological Engineering Society (AEES), and including the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS), Green Roots, Maryland Food Co-op, Tau Beta Pi Engineering Society, Engineers Without Borders, ROOTS Africa, Environment, Technology and Economy Scholars (ETE Scholars), and many others, with combined membership of some 600 students on the College Park campus. There are many potential projects afoot, both by individuals clubs within the cooperative, and by the Sustainabiltiy Cooperative itself.

"We're extremely excited to see the students' energy around sustainability and their excitement about centering both their gatherings and their research and action projects around LEAFHouse," says Bo Green, president of the Potomac Valley Architecture Foundation, which owns and stewards LEAFHouse. "This is exactly why the AIAPV Chapter, the Potomac Valley Architecture Foundation, and the University agreed to keep LEAFHouse on the campus when ownership transferred to the Foundation 10 years ago. I really encourage other architects in the Chapter to come out and engage with these students, who have incredible passion and enthusiasm for sustainability, and will be the ones leading innovation in design fields for the future."