Each month in Maintenance Solutions magazine, I profile an organization that has completed extensive building renovations or system retrofits, largely to improve energy efficiency and promote environmental responsibility.
During interviews for these articles, I have heard managers talk about the process of achieving green-building certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. One of the first things managers admit is they did not know what LEED was before the organization made the decision to go ahead with the project.
So how do some managers go from knowing little about LEED to helping their organizations achieve certification under the rating system?
That brings me to training. As any facility professional knows, training is vital to the success of a building’s operations and maintenance department. Without the proper training, front-line technicians cannot perform their responsibilities properly, which reflects poorly on the managers and the organization. So if departments provide training for day-to-day maintenance and operations tasks, shouldn’t managers also receive training on green-building certification before spearheading a project?
Consider an article in The New York Times talking about architects receiving training before design and construction begin on potential LEED-certified projects. Firms have green-building consultants come in to discuss the LEED system and offer their advice on what aspects of the certification to pursue or not pursue.
“Despite a seemingly straightforward point system and scorecard, getting LEED certification is not always easy,” according to the article. “Even large firms with employees with titles like ‘environmental strategist’ hire consultants to walk them through the process.”
So if environmental strategists need assistance, wouldn’t managers who know little about LEED also benefit from a tutorial? It seems like an obvious answer.