Although we are all aware that our economy is bleak and the overall construction industry is down over 40%, the bright shining hope for us all is the Green Building sector which saw an increase of over 20% last year. And with the Obama Administration’s Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act supporting even more green building activities, we firmly believe that Green is the color of our future.

The organization that has become the de facto standard for Green Building is the United States Green Building Council. This organization is responsible for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification (LEED), which has become the measuring tool for many municipal/governmental building projects as well as private projects. For more information on the LEED Building Certification, please visit www.usgbc.org.

Under the LEED system, buildings are certified and people are accredited. For more information about certifying a project or obtaining the LEED Accredited Professional designation, please visit www.gbci.org.

Whereas the LEED AP is targeted towards Architects, Engineers, Planners, and Executive-level Builders and is on the collegiate level of difficulty, the Green Advantage Certification is focused on Field Operations in a construction project and is highly recommended for Project Managers, Superintendents, Foremen, and Field workers. Green Advantage is also currently the only other certification recognized by the USGBC and projects can achieve additional LEED credit for employing certain percentages of Green Advantage Certified Practitioners on their construction projects. For more information on Green Advantage, please visit www.greenadvantage.org.

As part of NAMC's ongoing educational efforts, we will be making available the Green Advantage Certification Training on a chapter level. Please stay tuned.

One of the leading voices for Green Collar jobs for minorities is Green For All. For more information about Green For All, please visit www.greenforall.org.