The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan faces extremely limited water and energy resources, rapid population growth, and slow economic growth.  Its urban population growth, estimated at 3 percent per year, is overburdening infrastructure and escalating demand for water and for expensive imported energy. As a result, water and energy conservation stands to be one of the country’s most important goals.

Among other measures, Jordanians will be obliged to change habits and practices to reduce consumption. One of the most effective ways to affect behavior now and in the future is to engage the next generation of professionals who will be implementing and influencing these conservation actions: engineering and architecture students. ICMA will support the Green Generation Program, a component of the Public Action for Water, Energy, and Environment (PAP) program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). PAP is implemented by ECODIT, which in turn provided a grant to Sustainable Environmental and Energy Solutions (SEES), ICMA’s partner in Jordan, to implement this project.

SEES and ICMA will jointly work to raise awareness and change the behaviors of engineering and architectural students at three Jordanian universities about complying with and utilizing plumbing and solar water heater codes.

By partnering with the Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) in Irbid, Jordan University (JU) in Amman, and Al Hussein Bin Talal University (AHU) in Ma’an, SEES and ICMA will encourage future engineers and architects to make more informed energy and water-conscious decisions as they design, build, and renovate residential and commercial buildings. Knowing the requirements of building codes will ultimately help Jordan control its water and energy consumption and achieve water and energy conservation goals.

This effort will create a dialogue with students and developers that will encourage learning about innovations, safety, and savings. The team conducted surveys of more than 300 students at JUST, JU, and AHU in late July 2013. The surveys provided an overall snapshot of the students’ knowledge and motivations regarding building codes and revealed that although many of the respondents were unfamiliar with plumbing and solar energy codes, they expressed an interest to learn more and to be part of an effort to protect the environment and resources of Jordan.

These results create an opportunity for the Green Generation Program to make a lasting impact on the students. According to the survey, 85 percent of the respondents obtain information through social media outlets. Consequently, ICMA and SEES will use both digital and traditional media: Facebook, Twitter, an e-newsletter, information pamphlets, and field trips to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building sites to inform and empower students with information to make a difference in their communities. By the end of the program, the Green Generation Program will have built an online social community designed to distribute relevant news and information to spur awareness for water and energy conservation.