USGBC New York's Green Construction Skills working group is developing a green training program that is responsive to the industry's unique learning styles. Building on the experience of 100 volunteers from the city's top building trades and contractors, USGBC New York is developing scalable, adaptable teaching materials that will be useful in a variety of contexts.
Project manager Scott Sears, USGBC New York executive Russell Unger, and director of advocacy Richard Leigh have been working with industry partners and sponsors to draft courses covering the Fundamentals of Green Construction, Facility Management & Operations, Construction Management, Dry Mechanical Work (A), Wet Mechanical Work (B), Electrical, and Plumbing.
The next step, already underway, is to turn these outlines into actual curricula and teaching materials for each course, involving both photos of green technologies already in place, and videos of green features being installed. If you know of a potentially instructive construction activity coming up, and you would like to see it included in these materials, please contact us.
In addition to the Fundamentals of Green--a four hour introduction to the concepts of sustainability and efficiency--participants will also attend a four to eight hour immersion in the topic best suited to their trade. Unions, construction companies, and universities will teach the courses, and participants will have the opportunity to earn a USGBC New York Green Construction Skills certification by sitting an exam.
We plan to launch the Fundamentals of Green, Facility Management, and Construction Management, and Wet & Dry Mechanical Work, Electrical, and Plumbing in the summer of 2009.
Our partners include the Building Trades Employers Association (BTEA), the Building Construction Trades Council (BCTC), the Consortium for Worker Education (CWE), and the City University of New York (CUNY). This initiative was also made possible by the generous support of Merck Family Trust, and New York Community Trust.
Curriculum Working Group Members
