Janitors Hold the Keys to the Future of Green Buildings

PLANET WATCH-As Los Angeles building owners and managers strive to meet Mayor Garcetti’s goal of 15% energy reduction by 2020 across the City, there is a group of workers, often unseen, who increasingly have their eyes and ears on the building stock. The new Green Janitor Education Program, with Los Angeles as the pilot program city, has just presented its report on the first 126 green-certified janitors. The program is giving janitors a seat at the increasingly important sustainability table, with companies like CBRE and Dreamworks seeing the benefits, and, as of this week, Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power and Sony Picture Studios announcing their participation. 

Eight commercial office buildings in Los Angeles—from the South Bay to Glendale—signed on to participate in the pilot program last year. Their crews received 30 hours of on-site training that included Energy & Water Conservation, Recycling & Waste Diversion, Green Cleaning, and Health & Safety. The results of the program are documented in the Pilot Program Report released Wednesday at Constellation Place, the initial program site.  (Click HERE for report.)    

The program was designed and piloted as a collaborative effort among Building Skills Partnership (BSP), the U.S. Green Building Council-Los Angeles  (USGBC-LA), the Building Owners and Managers Association of Greater Los Angeles  (BOMA-GLA), industry experts, building owners and Service Employees International Union (SEIU)-United Service Workers West.  

Aida Barragan, Executive Director of BSP, summed up the spirit of the Green Janitor Education Program by saying, “Janitors are the eyes and ears of what happens in a building. The work they do every night impacts a building’s ability to save energy, conserve water, divert waste and improve indoor air quality. It is important to invest in their education and skills to promote the best practices of a sustainable cleaning system. We are proud to partner with USGBC-LA, SEIU-USWW, building owners and janitorial contractors to train and certify janitors under the Green Janitor Education Program. By investing in this primary immigrant workforce we are integrating them in the workplace community and creating confidence and skill for career pathways.” 

The certification is also being established through the U.S. Green Building Council as a ‘LEED Operations + Maintenance: Existing Building’ pilot credit for building service worker training. 

“Empowering the janitors to identify issues of energy over-use, or problems with leaks, makes a huge difference in operational communication, which ultimately saves the building owner money, reduces the building’s strain on the local infrastructure, and improves the health of all people in the building,” states USGBC-LA’s Executive Director Dominique Smith. 

Such points resonate with Los Angeles building owners and managers, especially in light of Mayor Garcetti’s goals. The janitors are identifying leaks, vampire load, and waste. Many are also taking their lessons home to their families and friends. Investing in human capital with the Green Janitor Education Program will yield a dividend in energy efficiency and water conservation for years to come. 

The initial companies that participated in the pilot program include Blackstone (Oppenheimer & Co., Inc., Sun America Center, Santa Monica Business Park buildings), CBRE (Pacific Corporate Towers), Calsters (City National Plaza), DreamWorks Animation Studios, and JMB Realty (Constellation Place). 

“CBRE is a proud supporter of this training certification program and will be participating throughout California,” says Lisa Colicchio, CBRE Director of Operations, Sustainability.” 

The signing on of Sony Picture Studios and the LADWP promises to increase awareness across a number of industry sectors, to multiply the numbers of Green Janitors in Los Angeles, and bring their importance to the forefront of operating green buildings.

 

(Dominique Smith is a transformational leader for sustainability in the built environment. As Executive Director for the US Green Building Council in Los Angeles, she advocates for a sustainable future based on its social-ecological-economic impact. www.usgbc-la.org) Photo credit: Building Skills Partnership.

-cw

 

 

CityWatch

Vol 13 Issue 26

Pub: Mar 27, 2015

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