The BioHaus at Concordia Language Villages (CLV) is one of the first buildings in the US to receive the German Passivhaus certification. It features air-tight insulation, natural lighting, geothermal heating and cooling systems, and solar thermal panels. The goal of the BioHaus is to educate visitors and enhance their personal awareness of how to more positively affect the environment.
While students flock to Concordia Language Villages (CLV) to learn several different languages, soon they all may leave with one common knowledge—energy efficiency. CLV finished constructing the Waldsee BioHaus in the German Language Village in 2006 and since has been using it as a host site for hands-on educational programming in the subjects of renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Hoping to expand the programming of the BioHaus beyond the peak season of summer (when many students attend language camp at CLV), in 2010 Edwin Dehler-Seter (Environmental Education and Natural Resource Specialist) and Martin Graefe (Director of Year-Round Programs) came up an idea: offer the BioHaus as a field trip destination for middle school-aged science students in the northwest Minnesota region.
In order to attract attention for this idea, and for energy efficient education programming, the BioHaus hosted a number of workshops for middle school science teachers to attend during which they were introduced to the renewable energy system models that the BioHaus features, such as solar, wind, and geothermal.
After attending these workshops, teachers were encouraged to incorporate energy efficiency and renewable energy education into their curriculums. They were also invited to bring their classes back to the BioHaus for hands-on educational experiences, which included getting a feel for how much of their own power it takes to run small household appliances by pedaling on a human-powered generator. Students also built their own small-scale wind turbines, adjusting their models for maximum output. They experimented with different blade designs, altering the size, shape, pitch, and materials used. Groups then competed to see which design was most efficient by testing the turbines in front of a fan.
In order to more effectively spread the message of the program, Edwin and Martin considered creating a smaller, transportable version of the program to take to schools. This is both to generate interest in the BioHaus and to take their teachings to classrooms that may not have the means to visit for themselves.
Martin reports that students responded very positively to their experiences. Teachers noted elevated levels of enthusiasm in classroom afterward. Not only do students better understand the concepts introduced to them, but they also get to see renewable energy on an applicable scale.
