Check out the AFL-CIO's new Innovators website feature, "Union Architects, Engineers Inspiring the Next Gen to Go Green."

When you’re 6 or 7 years old, the start of a new school year is a big deal. But for students at PS 264 in Brooklyn, N.Y., it’s even more special this year because they are walking into a newly built “green” school. And as a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building, that means encountering the unexpected.

Like lights that go on automatically when you’re the first one to enter a classroom.

And a gym that’s on the top floor of the building.

To build a green economy, we must also invest in broadband and overcome the growing digital divide in our society, according to a new report. “Networking the Green Economy: How Broadband & Related Technologies Can Build a Green Economic Future” calls for new communication technologies to make our energy-hungry economy more sustainable and energy-efficient.

Courses in the National Labor College’s (NLC‘s) new Green Workplace Representative Certificate Program will begin on June 26. The program consists of four required, weeklong courses. Students must complete 12 credits to earn the certificate.