by Rebecca Walker — March 23, 2010—Trane has been named a U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Education Provider and will offer curriculum to equip professionals with the continuing education needed to stay competitive in the sustainable building industry. To become an Education Provider, Trane had to develop courses that were then peer-reviewed and approved by USGBC as having educational content meeting USGBC’s rigorous quality requirements for LEED Professional Credential holders and the green building marketplace.
The company’s four initial Engineers Newsletter Live (ENL) course offerings have been approved by USGBC and will help LEED APs and LEED Green Associates maintain their credentials by counting toward Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) Continuing Education (CE) hours:
- Air Handling Systems, Energy and Indoor Air Quality (1.5 CE hours)
- American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standards 62.1 and 90.1 and Variable Air Volume Systems (1.5 CE hours)
- Energy Savings Strategies for LEED and the Energy Policy Act (1.5 CE hours)
- Fans in Air-Handling Systems (1.5 CE hours) (available March 24)
To be USGBC approved, courses must relate to green building practices, support the LEED rating systems and be non-commercial. For LEED Professionals’ credential maintenance, LEED APs with specialty must earn 30 CE hours (6 LEED-specific) biennially and LEED Green Associates must earn 15 CE hours (3 LEED-specific) biennially.
The LEED rating systems provide third-party certification for buildings and communities that have demonstrated leadership in reducing their energy and environmental impacts. Credit toward the four levels of LEED certification is awarded based on assessments in a number of different categories, including energy efficiency, water conservation, waste management and reduction, indoor environmental quality and others. As building owners are discovering, building or renovating to LEED standards ensures efficiencies that generally result in cost savings over the life of the building. For more information, see the Trane Web site.
