Carson City School District employee honored for work on green initiatives

Carson City School District’s Director of Operations Mark Korinek was named a winner of GreenNevada’s (Growing Resources for Environmental Education in Nevada) 2017 Golden Pinecone Sustainability Award.

Korinek was nominated and recognized in the Individual/Volunteer category for his leadership in guiding the district to implement sustainable practices.

The award ceremony will be held Nov. 7, from 6-9 p.m. at the National Automobile Museum in Reno.

Korinek contributes to green initiatives on many levels and is diligent in making sustainability a high priority in the operation of the school district, the award stated. He chairs the CCSD’s Sustainability Action Team and was the lead that helped incorporate the sustainability language, “Plan and develop sustainable solutions for operational goals,” into the district’s strategic plan.

Korinek has made changes to facilities by installing two megawatts of solar panels and initiating LED retrofits, heat pumps, trash compactors, day lighting and automatic controls. Green practices include recycling Styrofoam containers, water conservation and a green process cleaning program.

At schools, he supported five U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) service projects called Green Apple Day of Service. He speaks regularly in classrooms, supports gardens/habitats and brought in the Project Recharge and powerED programs.

Korinek is a member of Northern Nevada Facility Management Association, the Nevada Public Purchasing Study Commission and Sustainable Partners of Northern Nevada.

He was also awarded the USGBC LEEDership Award for Education for CCSD in 2015.