CAPPA Awarded EPA Grant for Circular Economy Education
Dr. Atefe Makhmalbaf, Associate Professor, and her team have been awarded a prestigious $133,333 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for their project, "Circular Economy for Building Design and Construction." This innovative initiative aims to transform the way sustainable building practices are introduced in K-12 education, with a strong focus on teacher training and community engagement.
Co-led by Dr. Joowon Im and Brad McCorkle, the two-year project is running from August 15, 2025, through August 28, 2027. Funding is provided through the EPA's Environmental Education (EE) Grant Program, which supports projects that increase public awareness and understanding of environmental issues.
At its core, the project aims to equip in-service high school teachers with cutting-edge knowledge and tools in sustainable building design and principles of the circular economy (CE). These include strategies such as energy-efficient design, material reuse, and reduction of greenhouse gases.
"Educating high school teachers on an emerging topic in sustainable building design was my main motivation for pursuing this funding," said Dr. Makhmalbaf. "Participants will learn how to assess circular economy (CE) strategies in buildings through critical thinking, problem-solving, and the adoption of modeling and analysis tools."
The project sets out two primary goals:
- Educational Priority – Career Development: Empower educators with emerging tools and resources to become active participants in the environmental movement.
- Environmental Priority – Improve Air Quality: Raise public awareness of circular economy strategies that reduce waste and improve air quality
To achieve these goals, the team will:
- Train teachers using EPA's CE educational materials and support them in integrating CE concepts into their courses and curricula.
- Guide teachers and students through a hands-on project to design and build an outdoor structure using reused materials, while assessing its environmental impact.
- Host exhibits and workshops in underserved Texas communities, where students and teachers will present their work and engage the public in circular economy principles.
The project will involve UTA faculty members as mentors, UTA students as research assistants and volunteers, and high school teachers, each of whom will reach between 20 and 30 students. Beyond the classroom, the team will host traveling workshops aimed at underserved communities. "These workshops will educate and inform students and their parents about the circular economy and how to reuse materials for different purposes," Dr. Makhmalbaf noted.
"K-12 education and research matters to me," she said. "This program allows us to educate teachers about cutting-edge research, giving them the skills to teach critical thinking, problem-solving, and build environmentally focused curriculum through performance-based building design strategies."
As the project gets underway, Dr. Makhmalbaf's team is poised not only to educate but also to inspire. By integrating sustainability into high school curricula and community workshops, the Circular Economy for Building Design and Construction project has the potential to become a national model for environmental education.