Building Green with a Purpose

Learning Experience Design | UN Sustainable Development Goals

Project Overview

Building Green with Purpose began as a prototype microlearning experience designed to help green building professionals understand how sustainable building practices support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Following the success of the prototype, the project is being expanded into a one-hour professional continuing education course at Green Building Education Services (GBES), where I am leading its ongoing instructional design and development.

Course Introduction: Learners are introduced to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through an interactive learning experience designed specifically for beginners.

Results & Impact

The success of this instructional design prototype extended beyond the classroom. Green Building Education Services (GBES) selected the project for expansion into a one-hour continuing education course for sustainability professionals.

I am currently leading the instructional design and development of the full course, building upon the learning framework, interactive activities, and instructional strategies established in the original prototype. This transition from academic project to production course demonstrates the scalability and practical value of the instructional design solution.

Self-Directed Exploration: Learners navigate through interconnected topics while building foundational knowledge of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Challenge

Sustainability professionals are increasingly expected to understand how their work contributes to broader environmental and social goals, yet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) are often viewed as abstract concepts that feel disconnected from everyday design and construction decisions. Traditional training often explains goals conceptually but offers few opportunities for learners to apply them in real-world workplace contexts.

The challenge was to design a learning experience that translated the UN SDGs into practical, job-relevant concepts for green building professionals. The solution needed to help learners recognize the connection between sustainable building practices and global sustainability objectives while encouraging active participation, critical thinking, and immediate application. The prototype also needed to be scalable to serve as the foundation for future professional continuing education at Green Building Education Services.

Building Foundational Knowledge: Complex sustainability concepts are introduced using clear visuals and learner-friendly explanations that reduce cognitive overload.

My Role

As the instructional designer and developer, I led the project from concept to prototype. I conducted the learner and needs analyses, defined measurable learning objectives, designed the instructional strategy, created storyboards and wireframes, developed the interactive prototype, and aligned assessments with the intended learning outcomes. Throughout the project, I focused on translating complex sustainability concepts into an engaging learning experience that emphasized real-world application, active learning, and accessibility.

Following the successful completion of the prototype, I am continuing to lead the project's evolution at Green Building Education Services (GBES). The original design is being expanded into a one-hour continuing education course for sustainability professionals, allowing me to apply iterative design principles and adapt the prototype for production-level delivery.

Development in Articulate Storyline 360: I independently designed and developed the instructional strategy, visual design, learner interactions, and complete Storyline implementation.

Instructional Design Decisions

Complex Content Simplification

Complex sustainability concepts are presented in manageable, learner-friendly segments.

The Sustainable Development Goals can be overwhelming for beginners. I organized the content into focused learning activities that introduce one concept at a time, helping learners build understanding without cognitive overload.

Real World Relevance

Learning activities connect global sustainability goals to practical decisions.

Rather than presenting the SDGs as abstract concepts, the course demonstrates how they influence everyday organizational and community decisions, making the content more meaningful and applicable.

Interactive Exploration

Learners actively explore content rather than passively receive information.

Interactive elements encourage learners to investigate the Sustainable Development Goals, discover relationships among them, and build understanding through exploration.

Designed for First-Time Learners

The learning experience assumes no prior knowledge of sustainability or the Sustainable Development Goals.

Content, interactions, and examples were intentionally designed to help beginners develop confidence before introducing more advanced concepts.

Visual Learning

Graphics and visual organization reinforce key concepts and improve comprehension.

Icons, diagrams, and consistent visual design help learners recognize patterns, organize information, and better understand the relationships among the Sustainable Development Goals.

Interactive Exploration: Learners actively explore the Sustainable Development Goals through interactive activities that encourage discovery rather than passive content consumption.

Reflection

Building Green with Purpose strengthened my ability to design learning experiences that connect theory with real-world application. Throughout the project, I learned the importance of aligning learner needs, measurable objectives, instructional strategies, and assessments to create a cohesive learning experience. Seeing the prototype evolve into a professional course reinforced the value of designing with scalability, learner engagement, and long-term organizational goals in mind.

This project highlighted the importance of scaffolding and multimedia learning principles by introducing complex sustainability concepts through structured interactions that gradually built learner understanding.

Connecting Global Goals to Everyday Decisions: The course concludes by helping learners recognize how the Sustainable Development Goals relate to real-world sustainability challenges.

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