Disaster Recovery Construction Specialist Certification Initiative - An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Disaster Recovery

The recent storms that ravaged islands in the Caribbean and a number of southern states and the wildfires that devastated large areas of California will require many thousands of construction workers to labor years in the recovery effort. These catastrophic events underscore the high priority that is needed to ensure construction personnel are equipped to deliver state-of-the art, resilient construction in the aftermath of these and future disasters.

Updated Study Guides Ensure State-of-the-Art Builder Competencies

For more than a year, the 21 members of the International Green Builder Certification Board have diligently labored to update the international standards upon which both the Green Advantage Certified Practitioner (GACP) and the Green Advantage Certified Associate (GACA) exams are based. All GACP and GACA exams now require familiarity with their respective, updated Study Guide.
The updated Study Guides contain valuable approaches, methods, and best practices that will help prepare construction personnel to bring greater value to any commercial or residential construction project – green or conventional.
As in the past, the competencies presented in the Study Guides are applicable across trades, results-oriented and compatible with multiple green building rating systems, standards and code. Some of the areas emphasized in the updates are:
Health and Safety issues that are particular to green building...

Pre-Construction Risk Assessment (PCRA) Certificate Program Gains ANSI Accreditation: A Valuable Credential for Healthcare Construction Personnel

Green Advantage and Green Path Technical Institute, a training organization, have partnered to help meet the demand for qualified healthcare facility construction workers with a two-day PCRA Certificate Program approved by highly qualified Subject Matter Experts.Green Advantage has achieved accreditation under ANSI/ASTM E2659-09 for its Pre-construction Risk Assessment (PCRA) Certificate Program. This American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accreditation is recognized nationally and internationally. The accreditation ensures that this state-of-the-art credential for healthcare construction workers meets rigorous quality standards for both the PCRA Certificate Program and Green Advantage as a credentialing organization.

It is no surprise that construction, renovation, repair and maintenance activities at healthcare facilities can potentially affect patients, staff, construction workers, and the general public. Air quality, infection control, utility requirements, noise, vibration and other hazards are all cause for concern.

But you might not be aware of the impact of these hazards. For example, healthcare associated infections (HAIs) can be contracted from stays in virtually any type of healthcare facility – hospitals, emergency care centers, surgical centers, and nursing homes. More than 200 Americans die each day from HAIs during their hospital stay. This is about twice the number of Americans...

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