Campus Life

Penn State York to help local businesses build green

Protecting the environment has become a top priority around the world and because the green building field is rapidly changing, Penn State York Continuing Education will offer Green Advantage training and certification from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19, at the campus.  The certification exam is set for 8 to 10 a.m. Oct. 26.

Green Advantage is a commercial construction program designed for builders, developers, contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers. The course is designed to prepare participants for Green Advantage certification by helping them to understand and enforce the course concepts and construction principles behind sustainable building, become knowledgeable about the LEED rating system, learn how to be an effective partner with design professionals and achieve a LEED-rated building, and prepare for the Green Advantage certification exam.

Participants will learn how to lighten the impact on the environment, save energy, and improve the health conditions of construction workers and building occupants. Participants can become Green Advantage–certified by successfully completing the 90-minute exam offered at the end of the course.

Some 25 states have passed or are considering legislation that would require government-funded projects to meet the U.S. Green Buildings Council’s LEED Building standards. Forty-eight cities, including New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, also have adopted LEED standards.

It is predicted that green building will continue to gain momentum as $200 billion a year is generated from government-financed construction projects, from schools to courthouses to hospitals. The impact could be even greater if the standards become part of building codes, and thus mandatory for private-sector projects such as offices, shopping malls, and houses. More than $1 trillion is spent on construction each year in the United States, according to the Commerce Department.

Benefits of Green Advantage Certification for companies include compliance with bid and design requirements or preferences when specified by design or construction documents and meeting Continuing Education Units (CEUs), credential maintenance, and program requirements.

CEUs may be applied towards the new requirements for licensed professional engineers for the purpose of meeting their 24 professional development hours requirements during the biennial period for licensure renewal in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

To register for Green Advantage training and certification call Penn State York Continuing Education at 717-771-4067. The registration fee is $525 per person which includes all training materials and lunch. To learn more about the variety of programs offered trough continuing education, visit www.ce.yk.psu.edu.

For more information, visit the website http://ceup.psu.edu/ga.

 

Last Updated August 26, 2010

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