Lesson Plans

As part of the Living Green Tenant Conservation Program, the Network Green Housing Initiative ran tenant education sessions at three buildings owned and operated by supportive housing providers. The lesson plans below reflect the sessions run during this program. You can pick and choose the lessons that work best for your tenant population and building needs.

The methods developed in these lesson plans were based on surveys, tenants and housing types. In one building with additional occupational therapists available, a more hands on approach was used to illustrate energy saving methods (Series A). In another building, a combination of inspirational activities was combined with functional demonstrations (Series B). In the third building, there was an interest in the broad issues of climate change and energy savings -- but with multiple language barriers, PowerPoint presentations were used with descriptive photos but few words (Series C).

Files appear as downloadable PDFs for your convenience.

Series A

Simple, hands-on activities to remind tenants how and why to use less energy.

Let's Turn Off the Lights
This lesson plan focuses narrowly on promoting a single basic habit of energy conservation -- turning off the lights.

Turn off the Heat/AC Before you Leave
This lesson plan focuses narrowly on a single issue -- remembering to turn off the heat or air conditioning when leaving your unit.

Reading an Electricity Bill
This lesson plan focuses on helping residents understand electricity bills and their connection to electricity use. It also touches on ways tenants can reduce bills.

Series B

Functional and inspirational activities.

Conserving Electricity
This lesson plan widens the lens to encompass conserving electricity from air conditioning units and other appliances as well as lighting.

Conserving Water
This lesson plan focuses on how tenants can reduce water waste in their building.

Sharing the Conservation Message
This lesson plan reviews what tenants learned in previous lessons and offers tips on sharing their knowledge with a broader audience.

Series C

Understanding energy bills and general information on global issues of conservation.

Reducing Electricity Bills
This lesson plan also focuses on electricity, but it’s aimed at tenants who currently pay their own electricity bills.

Climate Change and Energy Conservation
This lesson plan approaches energy conservation with a focus on environmental awareness rather than on specific conservation behaviors (although it touches on those as well).

Water Scarcity and Conservation
This lesson plan approaches water conservation with a focus on environmental awareness.

Additional Ideas

Other ideas and fun activities to engage your tenants.

Tenant Sustainability Engagement Strategies
Here are some ideas for activities you can hold at your supportive housing site to raise awareness about sustainability beyond energy and water.