Most colleges don't offer a course that can teach you how to navigate the real world. Sure, classroom learning provides students with a solid technical foundation in their chosen areas of study, but essential professional skills like negotiation, compromise, and flexibility aren't covered in most textbooks. For the answers to life's most challenging questions, you need a mentor.
If there were degrees in Real Life Experience, a group of more than 30 students from Weber State University would earn top honors. These students managed to design and build a six-bedroom, 2,450 square foot home that is powered entirely by the sun and can go off grid for three days—or longer—as part of their Solar Decathlon 2020 senior project.
Jeremy Farner, an associate professor of building design and construction at Weber State University, served as the team's faculty advisor on the project. Now that he has successfully advised two Solar Decathlon Design Challenge competitions and Weber State's most recent Build Challenge, there is no doubt he has what it takes to mentor the next generation of green building professionals.

Jeremy Farner, fourth from right, stands with students on the Solar Decathlon 2020 Build project team representing the Building Design & Construction, Interior Design, and Construction Management programs in February 2020.
Photo by Weber State University