Monday, May 23, 2011

Green Supers Graduate From NYC Program


A thousand New York City building superintendents and resident managers have officially become green experts, the largest property services union in the country announced Monday. At an event held at SEIU Local 32BJ's lower Manhattan headquarters, the group became the first to graduate from the 32BJ-Thomas Shortman Green Supers training program.
The Green Supers program is a 40-hour class that provides building service workers with state-of-the-art practices in energy-efficient operations. It trains workers to identify and address energy waste, create a green operating plan and perform cost-benefit analysis for building owners and managers.
The labor-management program, approved by the U.S. Green Building Council and the Building Performance Institute, was expanded courtesy of a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Another 1,000 supers are currently enrolled in the program.
"Green Supers is a win-win for building owners, residents and tenants, and just about everyone," said Mike Fishman, president of 32BJ, in a statement. “It's the type of program we need to turn the Big Apple green and other cities, too. And that's why it should be expanded to more building workers—here in New York and in cities across the country.”