Follow the LEED

And the education fields are scrambling
to keep up. Schools across the country are instituting green
certification programs and classes as more and more diverse career
fields attempt to get in on the trend.

"We expect to see huge growth" in the
number of people getting green certifications, said Maureen Wakefield,
Continuing Education coordinator at the SUNY College of Environmental
Science and Forestry. "It's no longer enough to be knowledgeable about
green methods; people want a license or certificate."

These certification programs are
designed to comply with the specifications set forth by the U.S. Green
Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or
LEED, system, which awards points based on how environmentally
conscious the design, construction and operation of a building is. The
points can be added to achieve certified, silver, gold or platinum
ratings.

Green scene: Inside the Center of Excellence you see green technology jobs in action. MICHAEL DAVIS PHOTO

Increasing numbers of people are going
back to school to receive these LEED professional accreditations, and
many are looking to SUNY-ESF to earn them. "The nature of our
institution lends itself to almost all of our programs having that
{green} focus," said John Turbeville, director of Career Services at
the college. "We're in a position to offer more of what they're looking
for."

In the construction of a LEED-accredited
building, there are a huge number of architects, engineers,
construction managers, building owners and energy professionals that
are all affected by the decision to go green. "New job titles are
appearing now, such as carbon footprint business appraisers or energy
auditors, that come into a home or business and check energy
efficiency," said Wakefield. "It's opening a whole slew of new job
goals for people."

These new careers are blossoming
quickly, with certified professionals working on jobs such as the
recent transformation of the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel and
Conference Center into one of three finalists for the 2009 Good
Earthkeeping Award given out by the New York Hospitality and Tourism
Association for their commitment to being green and earth-friendly. The
Sheraton installed new boilers that are 98 percent efficient and
developed a Guest Energy Management system that detects when a person
is out of the room and regulates the temperature accordingly.

And SUNY-ESF is becoming a center for
accreditation courses and programs. The college boasts undergraduate
degrees in environmental engineering and environmental science, both
fields which are projected to see job growth of more than 20 percent in
the next seven years by the Department of Labor, as well as a
nationally recognized program in landscape architecture. "These are
people who will be doing multimillion-dollar park designs," said Bob
French, vice president of Enrollment Management and Marketing at
SUNY-ESF. "These are hot career areas."

And their continuing education programs
are expanding just as rapidly. Yearly workshops on stormwater
management and conservation are offered in partnership with the New
York state Department of Environmental Conservation. The Outreach
Department offered courses this summer in green entrepreneurship as
well as a number of post-baccalaureate certificate courses. "Enough
building owners wanted to get certified that we held a program this
summer," said Wakefield.

In addition to the summer courses and
programs, SUNY-ESF hosted its seventh annual Green Building Conference
in March. The conference included speakers such as Jason McClennan, the
president and CEO of Ecotone Publishing and Susan Szenasy,
editor-in-chief of the architecture magazine Metropolis, as well as
workshops focusing on green alternatives to traditional building
demolition and green home renovations. Each presentation allows
professionals to get green licenses through the state of New York. The
2010 conference is scheduled for March 11 and 12.

In the face of the green field’s
anticipated “huge growth,” SUNY-ESF is still expanding their options.
“We’re going after several grants in green-capacity jobs,” said
Wakefield. “We’re working on bringing in some new certification
programs soon.”

As the green craze continues to build
steam, it has spread into many different corners of the job market,
affecting lawyers and construction workers alike. With certification
programs appearing with greater frequency and many building developers
putting a heavy emphasis on “going green,” LEED-accredited
professionals are seeing more and more opportunities opening
exclusively to those with certification.

“The certificate matters,” said
Wakefield. “It’s proof that these people know what they’re talking
about.” And in a rapidly growing new market, that assurance can be
incredibly important.