By ZACHARY HORNER Chatham News + Record Staff

PITTSBORO - Construction is quite a different field than nursing. 至少，当前注册护士罗克珊·麦克多诺报名参加中央卡罗莱纳社区学院的建筑施工技术课程时，她是这么想的. 麦克多诺说:“我非常疲惫，我并不喜欢我正在做的事情。. “(所以)我选择做一些我喜欢做的事情，那就是建造东西."

麦克多诺的故事可能是许多社区大学学生的典型——成年人尝试新的职业道路——但选择建筑可能不符合她的愿望. 随着查塔姆县继续发展，一些住宅开发和商业开发预计将紧随其后, the college hopes its program will play a role in that future.

"It's a really wonderful opportunity for a lot of people," said Jeff Gannon, the lead instructor of the BCT program, which began on 在线电子游戏网赌's Pittsboro campus in the fall of 2016. "You can have a varied background, come into this business and set yourself up a lifelong, financially-rewarding career right here in Chatham County. You can find plenty of work here in your hometown.该项目是该学院可持续技术专业的一个分支，更侧重于建筑的具体细节——没有双关语的意思, building codes, electricity, plumbing and more. 甘农说，这个项目试图帮助学生们了解建筑的全貌, work that culminates in the Chatham Cottage.

The Cottage is a yearly, 学生们从零开始建造的500平方英尺的住宅将于7月底拍卖. Lyle Wesner, another student, 说它提供了一个不同于大多数建筑工地的机会, 工人们可能只是专注于一项特定的任务，并重复做它. “杰夫鼓励每个人抓住机会去做一些他们觉得不舒服的事情," Wesner said. “所以每个人都轮流在不同的建筑组件中工作，每个人都得到了所有的东西.正是这种“真实世界”的经历吸引了韦斯纳参加这个项目. 甘农做了12年的承包商，专注于可持续技术, a facet he's incorporated into the program he leads now. 他说，建筑是全球气候变化的主要原因之一，建筑过程中的微小变化可以产生巨大的影响. "We're not just teaching construction skills, we're teaching folks how to build better, 你把两块木头放在一起的方式上的微小差异是如何影响房子的运作方式的," Gannon said. "With the scale of development we face here in Chatham County, 我们将对碳排放产生相当可观的影响，所有这些建筑项目都在我们的地区做出贡献.根据联合国环境规划署2013年的一份报告, 商业和住宅建筑约占全球年度能源消耗的40%，占全球能源相关温室气体排放量的30%. 但该报告指出，“建筑行业也被证明具有最大的潜力，可以以低成本或无成本的方式大幅减少排放。, or net savings, to developed and developing economies."

温瑟目前在一家可再生能源公司工作，他亲眼目睹了这一点. 他在完成实习后得到了这份工作，并表示在该领域工作需要基本的建筑技术知识. "People need to be skilled in building to work there, especially for the guys that are in the field," he said.

在最近的一个周二上午，当韦斯纳讨论可再生能源建设时, the program's students are wiring two light bulbs to four switches. McDonough says it may sound simple, 但是你必须把两个四向开关和两个三向开关连接到两个灯泡上, and they all have to turn on. 对于不懂结构的人来说，这句话听起来可能很陌生.

It's that type of education that McDonough wants, 尽管她承认女性并没有真正参与建筑业的历史记录. 甘农说，劳动力的减少导致更多的妇女从事建筑工作，女性占在线电子游戏网赌项目的30%左右. "They're coming in with this openness to learn," he said. "They're bringing assets and an extra skill level to this program.麦克多诺说，她在家里的商店比她丈夫的好——她丈夫在另一所大学担任重型设备操作教练——他“一直都在听别人说”.她补充说，她从人们那里得到的更多是尊重，而不是质疑或怀疑, although sometimes when she goes to buy lumber, she's asked if it's for her husband. "I think the shift, it's starting," she said. "There aren't enough people to do all the work, and women have just as good a work ethic, if not better sometimes, than men do."

And she has brought some of the skills of nursing, such as critical thinking and teamwork, into construction. 根据全国建筑业妇女协会的数据，这一数字为1.2006年有1.31亿女性从事建筑业，2012年这一数字降至80.2万. But that number has bounced back, with approximately 939,截至2016年底，全国建筑业就业妇女人数达1000人, about 9.1 percent of the field. 麦克多诺认为，女性可能把母性本能带到了工作中，这让她们做得更好. Gannon's not totally sure, but he does want all of his students, male or female, 带着一种将建筑看作是帮助他人的愿望离开项目.

“我希望人们离开这个项目时能意识到我们所做的工作是重要的," he said. "If it's not important, you make it important. 我所说的重要性是指它服务于比个人更重要的目的. 你所创造的高质量作品将会运行良好并服务于社区."