Green Construction
Everyone is talking about the new green economy. Luckily in the construction industry, green building requires many of the same skill sets as typical construction. Union crafts men and women and union contractors have installed every type of “green technology” that already exists, and are being trained in new technologies and products that will be ready to go online in the near future.
Training in green building processes and materials is integrated in union apprenticeship and journey worker upgrade training programs, and many union contractors have LEED certified staff so that they remain on the cutting edge of sustainable construction practices.
Two Boston union training centers are about to add “Green Rooms” that will enhance their hands on training in the latest green building technologies.
The Green Room at Plumbers and Gasfitters Local 12 will consist of a state-of-the art solar heating and hot water system and a sophisticated rain water re-use system. The Plumbers Green Room is being heralded by members of the Plumbing, Heating and Cooling Contractors of Greater Boston, many of whom already have experience working on LEED projects.
Scheduled to achieve a LEED Gold Rating, Russia Wharf is just one of the many projects featuring sustainable mechanical systems installed by J.C. Cannistraro, LLC. By using skilled union crafts workers, Cannistraro has the trained and experienced workforce needed to complete the area’s largest and most complex green buildings including the Genzyme World Headquarters and the Artists’ for Humanity EpiCenter, both of which achieved LEED Platinum ratings.
IBEW Local 103’s Green Room will contain a miniature fuel cell, wind turbine and photo voltaics. Local 103 already uses its own wind turbine that produces 20 percent of the energy used at its school. And, union electrical contractors are installing alternative energy systems in commercial and industrial buildings as well as in residential homes across Massachusetts.
As wind turbines have become popular as a source of alternative energy, many other locals are enhancing current training programs to meet the demand. Since last year, all apprentices from Ironworkers Local 57 have been learning how to install wind turbines and a wind turbine erection module is being taught to every ironworker around the country.
The Boston Carpenters Joint Apprentice Training center prepares members for the LEED Accredited Professional (AP) test and has introduced a Green Building and Basics Weatherization course. The New England Regional Council of Carpenters has joined a growing number of owners demanding green construction and their new headquarters on Dorchester Avenue will qualify for LEED Certifiable status.
The Laborers are becoming a leader nationally in training workers for weatherization of residential housing in addition to the commercial green construction work they are already doing. The Laborers Hopkinton training center is conducting a green building awareness course for its members including the approximately 1000 laborers that will be working on the new Plymouth Rock Studios project. Targeted to be the world’s first green studio, the project will be built 100 percent union.
Roofers and Waterproofers Local 33 has long provided training in the installation of green roofs. Signatory contractor Marshall Roofing received national fame in the documentary “The Greening of Southie” for the installation of an American Hydrotech roof garden system on the Maccallan Building – one of the first residential buildings in the nation to earn a gold rating from the US Green Building Council.
Green construction processes are also critical to reducing the industry’s own carbon footprint. Kleeberg Mechanical Services in Ludlow say they eliminate the process of cleaning ducts at project sites by shipping sheeting with fabricated plastic at the end the duct and also recycling materials on-site. One of Kleeberg’s notable green projects is the UMass Amherst Science Center.
Union contractors and crafts people are marking the Commonwealth’s landscape green from major educational institutions, residential and commercial buildings, to hospitals like Mass General Hospital’s B3C project, slated to be completed in 2011. The unparalleled investment of nearly $30 million annually in training by union construction in Massachusetts and the continual enhancement of this training to meet new industry standards, is why owners and developers choose union construction for their green building needs.
