Good News!  GPRO: Construction Management has been named as one of the acceptable credentials for the NYC Department of Buildings’ new Sustainable Contractor Designation Program.  Later this year, more GPRO courses will be listed as the program is expanded to include more professions. Notably, consumers will be able to search the DOB database to determine if the contractor they are considering hiring has the credentials to build green. Here’s details from the DOB:

On July 19^th, New York City Department of Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri launched the new Sustainable Contractor Designation Program.  This initiative recognizes those individuals with expertise in environmentally friendly construction who are working to meet today’s increased demand for new, green technologies and reduce the City’s carbon footprint. The program identifies contractors who demonstrate knowledge in sustainable practices through third-party certifications/credentials.

Contractors who choose to participate in the program agree to promote the use of green technologies to their customers and report these projects to the DOB. Additionally, the program allows consumers to search for and identify contractors with expertise in green practices.  Those licensees who the DOB indentifies as sustainable will have an icon in the shape of a green leaf displayed next to their names in the Department’s Buildings Information System (BISWeb).

Currently, only general contractors for 1-, 2- and 3-family homes can participate in the program. Later this year, the program will be expanded to allow master plumbers and electricians to participate.

The DOB has identified a list of acceptable credentials that will qualify a General Contractor for this designation.  These credentials include GPRO Construction Management Certificate, LEED-AP (Homes or Interior Design and Construction), Certified Passive House Consultant, BPI Certified Professional, Energy Star Home Builder and several others.

Brian Wennersten, LEED AP+, GPRO:CM is an Instructor and Principal of SKYed Eco Education & Consulting, and a certified GPRO Instructor. Tom Chartier, a 32BJ 1,000 Green Supers instructor, was interviewed for this story.

New York City’s building service workers have been incorporating green building and maintenance practices into residential and commercial building projects, area theaters and stadiums since at least 2005.  It was then that the joint labor-management Thomas Shortman Training Fund secured funds to incorporate these practices into their curriculum.  The fund was originally created to provide continuing education for building service professionals who are members of SEIU Local 32BJ, the largest property services workers union in the country.  In 2009, the program evolved into the 1,000 Green Supers.  The goal?  Train 1,000 superintendents in one year and further their positive environmental impact on New York City buildings.

During the development stage, Urban Green Council worked closely with 32BJ to incorporate their GPRO certificate program into the 1,000 Supers curriculum.  Earlier this year, GPRO’s Fundamentals of Building Green and Operations and Maintenance Essentials courses were adopted as key components of the 40-hour training.  By participating in the courses and passing a multiple-choice exam, students earn the GPRO: O&M certificate.  “Having incorporated GPRO into the 1,000 Supers curriculum, our students now leave with two credentials in lieu of the one BPI certification originally included. Also, the 1,000 Supers original focus was mainly on NYC issues; by incorporating GPRO, the bigger picture of climate change has been expanded upon,” said Tom Chartier, 32BJ 1,000 Supers Instructor.

In January 2010, the U.S. Labor Department granted almost $3 million to 32BJ’s Thomas Shortman Fund through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.  The renewed funding has expanded classroom training to reach an additional 1,000 supers enrolled in the program.  This past May, hundreds of NYC superintendents celebrated at their graduation with keynote speaker Steven Chu, U.S. Secretary of Energy. This first wave of graduates is only the beginning of 1,000 Green Supers’ success story.

Continue Reading

Deb Kleinman is the Executive Director of the USGBC Colorado Chapter, which is one of the first GPRO Delivery Partners outside of New York City. Deb talks to Urban Green Council ED Russell Unger about the genesis and potential impact of GPRO:

Deb Kleinman: How did GPRO come to be?

Russell Unger: A few years back, when we scanned green building education, we saw a glaring lack of attention to the people who actually construct and operate buildings. The green building movement didn’t seem to be thinking past getting developers on board and having architects and engineers design green buildings. We reached out to the Building Trades Employers’ Association and the Building Construction Trades Council, the umbrella organizations representing contractors and trades here in New York, and after a few months of discussion GPRO was conceived.

DK: Why is GPRO so important?

RU: To create higher-performing buildings, the teams that build them need to adjust to the cultural shifts taking place in the construction industry.  This evolution towards green building requires not only that technology and building systems be well-integrated, but also that construction teams work more closely with each other than in a conventional job.  Construction roles are changing and GPRO will help workers navigate this transformation.  For example, in green buildings contractors are now regularly being asked for their input during the design phase, building operators are now considered an extension of the construction team, and the various building trades on green sites are more aware of what the other trades are doing.   GPRO is a critical step towards making all buildings in this country greener.

Continue Reading

Patrick Gallagher is Vice President of Estimating at BP Mechanical Corporation

A little over a year ago, The Subcontractors Trade Association (STA), formed the Green Building Committee, which I chair. The Committee’s mission is to promote sustainability in the construction industry and to educate and support the STA membership in understanding the benefits and implementation of green building practices.

We believe that what subcontractors need most is education on what sustainability actually means, and their role on a green job.

In early committee meetings it was always stressed that we should help subcontractors understand how to execute green practices and why these practices are important. We also think it’s critical to educate ourselves about the impact our industry has on the environment.

“We all agreed that the only way green building practices will grow into common building practices is to develop a passion for what we do. By limiting the impact construction has on the planet, we will maintain a livable economy for future generations of builders, and a sustainable environment for our children and our children’s children.“

We have been fortunate over the last year to work with Urban Green Council in launching GPRO.

The course that’s most relevant to STA members is GPRO: Construction Management, which is designed for experienced CMs, GCs, site superintendents, project managers, projects engineers/clerks, facilities managers, commissioning agents, and others involved in the construction process.

My own firm, BP Mechanical, was one of the first organizations to test the program. We offered Construction Management along with the prerequisite, Fundamentals of Building Green, and I must confess I was quite nervous on how it would go over—but it was fantastic!

A class of 18 project managers, supers and estimators were engaged and excited to share their experiences with green building and learn what more they can do on green jobs. I strongly recommend that all subcontractors bring GPRO to their companies.