Are you Green Experienced?

By Ryan Sparks

Obtaining certifications and/or credentials can be addictive. For some, it’s the thrill of passing the exam. For others, it’s the ego boost they get from seeing the acronyms after their name that take up two lines on their business card. Others just like to wallpaper their office with certificates. Regardless of the reason, if you are a Green Associate, the next credential to shoot for is becoming a LEED AP. The only problem is that GBCI requires you demonstrate experience on a LEED project in order to qualify for the exam.

But what about all the sales professionals that want to become LEED APs to establish credibility with their green clients? Or all the attorneys that want to establish a niche in green building law? How are they supposed to qualify for the exam?

So maybe sales professionals and attorneys do not garner a lot of sympathy from the general public, or maybe architects and engineers like this obstacle because they feel it keeps their credential more prestigious. The fact of the matter is that unless you are working in a firm with LEED projects, your chances of getting LEED experience is limited to the following:

• Volunteering – Non-profits like Habitat for Humanity and Enterprise Green Communities (http://www.greencommunitiesonline.org/) provide volunteer options to work on LEED affordable housing projects.
  
  
• Interning – This is not an option for a working professional, but students or recent grads can try to obtain unpaid positions with firms that work on LEED projects.
  
  
• Buying the Experience – Many LEED exam prep sites are now selling project experience that is limited to participation in weekly web conferences at a cost starting around $400.
  

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that many professionals that are already LEED APs are also clamoring to work on LEED projects to build up their experience and resume. So until there is real boom in LEED construction, Green Associates are going to have to look for creative ways to get their name listed on a LEED project.

Can Green Jobs Save the Future of Construction?

By: Jeff Nippes

It has been a rough couple of years for the economy, and the design and construction industry has been hit about as hard as anyone. All you hear about in the news is recession this, great depression that, how long it will take to recover from the real estate bubble bursting, how many jobs the industry has lost etc. etc.

How about some good news for a change? For a good read check out the U.S. Green Building Council’s Green Jobs Study.

It is a fairly large document (52 pages) but if you only the read the executive summary you will probably feel a little better about our industry. The growth in green jobs is staggering.

$396 billion dollars in labor earnings from green construction is forecast from 2009-2013 compared to a very respectable $123 billion in labor earnings from 2000-2008. If you are doing the math that’s triple the labor earnings in a 5 year period compared to a 9 year period. Like I said, staggering. The economic impact directly tied to LEED related construction is equally impressive. Using the same two time periods LEED labor earnings is forecast to go from $703 million to $12.5 billion. This study was released at Green Build ’09 in November of last year so it takes into account the current economic climate.

So as the dog days of summer grind on and it seems the economy and construction industry grind with it, take a peak at the green jobs report for some feel good reading.

Do you think green jobs can help the construction industry recover?

How Many Green “Firsts” Can You Boast? Heery International’s list is impressive.

By Vicki Zambito


There’s a lot of talk about “being green”, but few companies have taken it to the level that HEERY International has. More than 25% of Heery’s staff are LEED Accredited Professionals.

The firm is proud of its sustainable “firsts”, which it lists as including:

The first LEED Gold hospital in Colorado: Heery served as the architect, programmer and planner for the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, Colorado, which is the largest hospital to have achieved LEED Gold certification. Heery and Poudre Valley Health Systems agreed on a fast-track design and construction process to bring the project in on time and without budget overruns. The 595,000 SF, 136-bed medical center is designed as a hospital within a hospital and houses the Heart Center of the Rockies and the Trauma Center of the Rockies.

The first LEED Gold winery in the nation: Heery provided commissioning services for the Stoller Winery in Dayton, Oregon. Work included installation checks and startup and performance verifications of building systems as required for LEED certification (Energy and Atmosphere). The project received a LEED Gold certification from USGBC, the first LEED certified new construction winery in the country.

The first LEED Gold daycare in Georgia: Heery designed Georgia Power’s first day care facilities; one at the Atlanta corporate campus and one adjacent to the Henry County Customer Care Center. Given Georgia Power’s initiatives to reduce the impact on the environment and their projects to make the air and water cleaner, one of the major requirements for the projects was that they be sustainable and obtain at least a LEED Silver certification rating. Incorporating high efficiency HVAC and lighting systems, as well as low VOC finishes into the building, helped achieve
the LEED points necessary for a sustainable project.

Other LEED firsts that Heery recognizes is the first LEED targeted power plant in the nation and the first LEED K-12 school in South Carolina.

Learn more about Heery’s LEED projects at http://www.heery.com/about_us/about_us_sustainability_leedprojects.aspx