May 21, 2009

CITC builds a green curriculum

Photo courtesy of CITC [enlarge]

Instructor Kevin Ormsby teaches green construction and environmental awareness to carpentry students at CITC in Bellevue. The students are, from left: Trung Nguyen, Andrew Gordon, Brad Gruol and Robert Dawson.

WITH GREEN BUILDING de rigueur, especially in the Puget Sound region, the Construction Industry Training Council of Washington is making environmental sustainability a foundation of its curriculum.

The council, a private, nonprofit vocational school for construction workers in seven trades ranging from carpentry to heavy-equipment operation, has begun teaching a 15-hour course entitled “Your Role in the Green Environment.” During the 2009 winter quarter, 650 craft training students received the training from certified instructors as part of their regular class hours. Going forward, the course will be taught to all first-year students.

Dave Perrin, the council's vice president of education services, said the course allows students to immediately apply the three R's both on the job and at home. In this case, the three R's stand for reduce, reuse and recycle. “It's pretty fundamental,” said Perrin, who explained that the course provides basic instruction in the green environment, green construction practices and green building rating systems.

The council began teaching the course at the urging of construction industry employers.

“Pressure came down from employers, who said, ‘We need your help,' ” Perrin said.

This is the result of the industry feeling pressure from public- and private-sector clients. More and more government agencies are requiring builders to institute green practices in construction projects. Washington is the first state in the nation to require publicly funded buildings to be built to green standards, and cities and counties have incorporated similar standards.

The private sector is following close behind. By 2008, Washington had more than 500 certified or registered LEED buildings and more than 20,000 Built Green homes.

Perrin said something more basic than market forces played into the council's decision to teach the course. Council leaders and partners acted, he said, because being more efficient is the right thing to do for both the planet and the bottom line.

The council turned to the National Center for Construction Education & Research, which created the curriculum that the Green Building Council has endorsed. The course takes a holistic approach to working green, examining a wide range of principles.

One instructor, John Harder, said he is learning along with students.

“It's far more involved than I had ever imagined,” said Harder, who teaches first-year electrical students as well as continuing education courses to journeyman electricians. He thought the course would merely cover what electricians could do on the job to make a difference, but found that it encourages wider behavioral changes, such as using mass transit to commute to work.

The course “has really opened my eyes in how far-reaching this attitude is,” said Harder, who is chief estimator at SME Inc. of Seattle. For green technology to have the most impact, everybody needs to participate, he said.

According to Perrin, students have embraced the concepts of the course. They are mostly aware of the issues and are largely “very interested” in the training.

“As craft workers, our students are not involved in the design of products, but they do have positive roles to play,” he said. “They learn to be more diligent at conserving resources at work and at home. As knowledgeable employees, they assist the contractor in achieving LEED goals.”

Perrin added that as current and future maintenance workers, the students can influence the selection of high-efficiency lighting, HVAC equipment and appliances. “All things that will help improve green building practices and the environment,” he said.

Scott Boyd, a third-year plumbing student who works for Redmond-based Merit Mechanical, said the course has helped him on the job. When he began the course, he was working on a LEED project on the Pacific Lutheran University campus in Tacoma.

“I applied the information in the (course) module to what I was doing at the time,” Boyd said. “It was interesting to see it all come together.”

The course will make him a better plumber. He said he will, for instance, be more conscientious about ordering materials that are manufactured as close to the job site as possible.

The course will boost the industry overall, according to Steve Murray, a project developer/designer with Northwest Mechanical and a plumbing instructor.

“A well-educated and skilled workforce helps reduce overall construction costs by using wise construction methods, re-using materials, reducing scrap and waste, and eliminating rework,” said Murray, who helped design and build the first LEED-platinum certified residential project in Washington.

The council, which is based in Bellevue but offers courses statewide, provides state-approved apprenticeship and craft training in the electrical, HVAC, painting, sheet-metal, plumbing, carpentry and heavy-equipment trades.

Previous columns:

• TOD awaits the green light in Southeast Seattle, 05-14-2009
• Lawmakers expand the design-build universe, 05-07-2009
• Want to save money? Commission your building, 04-30-2009
• Italy fears mobsters will profit from quake, 04-23-2009
• For BIM fans, it's a 'night and day difference', 04-16-2009
• Sustaining the future while restoring the past, 04-09-2009
• Tall wood building faces Godzilla-size shake test, 04-02-2009
• Wind farms lift economy in Klickitat County, 03-26-2009