Campus Green Builder (CGB) is a Second Nature initiative that serves as an online portal offering sustainability resources to higher education institutions. These resources include case studies, news, events and ways to get involved in green building initiatives. Higher education institutions currently face the challenge of integrating sustainability programs into their facilities, and CGB seeks to aid them in that process.
The Challenge:
Second Nature partnered with the The Kresge Foundation to start Campus Green Builder (CGB) to share green building resources and spotlight Higher Education success stories. The CGB Web site branding needed to reflect its own distinct identity while remaining a recognizable component of Second Nature. A key challenge of the project was to present numerous resources in a cleanly organized, easy to navigate format. Adding to that challenge, it was critical that the site be built with a high degree of flexibility in which every content item and image could be quickly modified, without a web developer, to meet the changing needs.
"Working with Second Nature was an enjoyable experience for Blue Coda. The Campus Green Builder project was a perfect bridge between our higher education niche and our growing sustainability focus."
- Darrin Samaha, Client Services Lead
Here's how we did it:
Designed a Campus Green Builder logo that highlights the Second Nature brand
Created a flexible design that gave CGB the ability to change the majority of the content on the site
Integrated an open source content management solution (CMS), reducing implementation costs while still providing maximum control
Created a green builder blog with three sets of permissions that can be assigned to specific users to maximize interactivity while limiting the need for moderation of posts. Also, new users require approval from Second Nature staff.
Designed and built a case study template with customizable sub-navigation to showcase specific elements of each success story and to allow easy navigation between sub-sections and other case studies.
Integrated Google Analytics to track site visitors, gauge content visibility, and identify high traffic web pages
Trained CGB staff on how to update the site themselves
Provided CGB with a written guide to supplement their training on how to change content and update the site
Results:
Campus Green Builder successfully launched in early November of 2009. The site, which did not exist before the launch, attracted over 1500 unique visits in its first week. Second Nature is excited to introduce it as an online resource to its many constituents.
