Program Pushes Green Guidance

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An L.A. program that trains custodial staff to keep office buildings as environmentally friendly as possible has expanded throughout the state. And it could hit the rest of the country soon.

“People are calling from all over the country wanting to know how to implement the program,” said Dominique Hargreaves, executive director of the U.S. Green Building Council’s L.A. chapter, a nonprofit environmental organization that spearheaded the program with the Building Skills Partnership, a collaboration between the Service Employees International Union – United Service Workers West and commercial building owners.

The Green Janitor Education Program, which launched in March of last year, is designed to help building owners save money, energy, and water by teaching employees to turn off lights, unplug appliances, properly sort recycling, and use eco-friendly cleaning chemicals.

The initiative involves 30 hours of training and can count toward a building’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification. It is funded by a grant from California’s Employment Training Panel, a government agency that provides job-skills training for employees. More than 600 janitors have graduated from the program in Los Angeles County so far.

“All of the things that make a difference at your house can, when you magnify them to an eight- to 20-story building, increase savings,” said Hargreaves.

The program is launching in Orange County, San Diego, and San Francisco. The Green Building Council is also in talks to bring it to New York and Chicago, said Hargreaves.

Movie studios have been some of the program’s early adopters, and Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Culver City studio’s 60 participating custodians represented the largest class so far.

– Caroline Anderson

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