Green” Your Super with 32BJ
Green Buildings are a reality, not some far off future concept to be pondered later. More and more CNYC members expect their building to be using the latest green strategies to reduce waste and pollution and maintain a high quality indoor environment. In 2011 City law requires buildings of 50,000 square feet and more to start ‘benchmarking’ their energy and utility use.. And utility costs continue to rise, demanding greater efficiencies to hold down costs; the best way to control these costs involves employing the latest green strategies.
But before you install that high efficiency boiler or start using green cleaning products, consider whether your staff is ready to go green. A critical element in making your green strategies work is staff buy-in.
A new training program has been developed to prepare building staff for going green. 32BJ’s Thomas Shortman Training Fund with help from New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and top industry CEOs has launched “One Year, One Thousand Supers,” an innovative green building initiative to train superintendents and resident managers to become energy efficient building operators. In this 40 hour class, building workers learn how to reduce water use, improve heating and air conditioning performance and reduce overall energy use within common areas of the building. The training is free and available to eligible members of Local 32BJ. Supers and Handypersons who complete the training also have the option to take an exam offered by the Building Performance Institute (BPI) for certification as a Multi-Family Building Operator. Participating buildings allow their staff release time to attend this important class.
The training covers a number of basic areas on building operations, including building science, lighting efficiency and controls, HVAC strategies and Indoor Environmental Quality. Classes are taught by experienced industry staff who not only review basic concepts and green strategies, but also run classroom exercises and on-site demonstrations at an apartment building.
Hundreds of building superintendents have gone through the training and received their BPI certification. As part of the training, they also prepared a green building plan, listing the improvements they want to make to their buildings. And, most importantly, they walked away with an understanding of building concepts and industry standards for running efficient buildings as well as managing resources.
Don’t miss this opportunity. If your building super and handyperson are members of 32BJ, call The Thomas Shortman Training Fund to sign them up for this free training at (212) 388-3220. You can also read more about the training at www.1000supers.com
32 BJ’s ‘One Year, One Thousand Supers’ training program is funded in part by a $2.8 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. |