Educating building operators for a green future

Transcript

Ellen Honigstock

Hi everyone and welcome to Urban Green’s podcast, Building Tomorrow, where we have conversations with climate solvers. Every day we meet people who make a big difference in the built environment and are moving us closer to a low carbon future. And we want you to hear their stories. My name is Ellen Honigstock. I’m the Senior Director of Education here at Urban Green. And today I’m so excited to introduce Michaela Boren, who is the Manager for Green Programs at the 32BJ Training Fund. 

As many of you know, workforce development is a key part of the work we do at Urban Green Council and one of the most important building blocks that all the other sustainability solutions are built on. One of the most important audiences we work with are unions and with building operators in particular. We’ll get into all the critical work that building operators do in a little bit. 32BJ is a very impressive organization. They have 175,000 members across the country and are the largest union of building service workers in the United States. Urban Green has partnered with 32BJ and Michaela for years to help integrate sustainability into their training programs. I’m really happy to talk to her today about her work and give you some insight into how training works at unions and how they have used training to make the new changes in the energy landscape, particularly in New York City. So Michaela, welcome.

Michaela Boren

Hi everyone.

Ellen Honigstock

Can you first kick us off, you tell us, like tell us your story? How did you get this job?

Michaela Boren 

The story is that I grew up in the Philippines and half my family has green thumbs – mine only lasts for six months though. My parents taught me to appreciate mother nature in all its forms. I credit my parents for the love of nature to begin with. I actually went to a school that is eco-friendly. It’s an eco-friendly campus. We even had an ecology park that was really like an animal hospital or a second home for animals rescued from illegal poachers. Being part of the ecology club, we were trained to give tours to visitors. I think that’s the part that I enjoyed the most was, you know, finding ways to make information fun for people, especially like to make them more interested, you know, in a seashell, so to say.

My first big environmental activity where I had to stand up for something was in fifth grade. The school had made an effort to protest garbage trucks coming into our town and it was bringing Manila’s trash and they were going to build a landfill in our area. I remember vividly making a poster when my parents were on the parents council.

They were in school as much as I was. And I remember that my dad was there with me protesting the trucks or making sure that nobody was getting run over by the garbage trucks as we were holding up our signs. That’s what the next thing in my life that really solidified that I wanted to be in the environmental field was when I was in seventh grade, the United Nations had a Conference of Parties on biodiversity. This was held in The Hague in the Netherlands. They started the first youth conference to go hand in hand with the adult conference. I was actually the Philippine youth representative and I was 14 at that time and the age was supposed to be between 15 and 18. And so being underage, my dad, my mom and my aunt came along as chaperones. It was my first time attending a conference and you have to dress up, you have to wear, you know, this or that. And everybody ended up in jeans and it was less formal than, you know… It was my mom, my aunt, you’re like, if you go to a conference, it’s supposed to be formal. Essentially it was all teenagers. So everybody came in jeans and I’m like, why am I wearing a skirt type of thing?

But anyway, to me it was very important because I found friends that were my age, teenagers from all over the world that had the same passion or interest or even had more passion than me, actually. It was just really nice to meet people my age who wanted the same thing of saving mother nature. I learned from my European friends why polar bears don’t eat penguins… It was more like a fun fact because we don’t have polar bears or penguins in the Philippines. So that was really the experience that made me like, I think I really want to continue my journey in the environmental field and, you know, be on the side of Mother Earth type of thing. 

In college, I actually chose a bachelor’s of science in environmental science and I went to a Jesuit university. And the curriculum was all about mountains, rivers, volcanoes. I remember in geology class, the test was to guess what rocks were given to us by the professor. And I couldn’t figure out one. type of rock. It was one or the other, so I licked it to see if the pH of my saliva would react. If it didn’t react, then it was this. If it did react, it was that. So, you know, we went through great lengths. We sampled soil and I was in the middle of a river and, you know, there was an open diaper with a number two floating down the stream towards me. That’s part of water testing, you know, as part of the experience. I also had the chance to live with fishermen for a weekend and talk to them about why we shouldn’t do dynamite fishing. 

I’ve lived with farmers who protected a mountain from illegal logging and mining. And we taught them how to use a soil test kit. We even borrowed an expensive piece of equipment for our department. Because it was the most expensive piece of equipment, we kind of had to put our college diploma on the line as collateral, you know, as proof that we are, we were graduating that year and, you know, we really wanted to help. And so this was, you know, it’s not like we had the money at that time to rent something. So that was our collateral. And so, because we really wanted to test the waterfalls that they had and their water sources, because it was near a mining activity and everybody was worried about the water quality. So we’re like, well, we know how to do it. We have access to the equipment. So why, why not? Right. And again, because it’s a natural environment and the Philippines is a big mining activity. My thesis had nothing to do with buildings. It was about using seaweed on how to adsorb lead in mine tailings. You know, imagine the surprise I had when I came home one day from school and my mom says we’re moving you to the U.S. and we’re putting you in New York City so we don’t have to buy you a car type of thing. 

So you know my response was “Okay, that’s the plan right after graduation” in 2010. So coming here to New York City was very different. It’s the concrete jungle and I think the challenge was that I didn’t know the job market. The only thing I know that was environmental science-related was EPA and Central Park. So I had a very hard time finding a job when I first came to New York City because if you type in environmental science jobs at that time, everything that would come up was sanitation related. I didn’t have a mentor here. I didn’t have any connections that I could ask. 

Ellen Honigstock

Wow, okay.

Michaela Boren 

My cousin actually brought me to the WorkforceOne office in the Bronx. So if you’re not familiar, Workforce One program is by New York City. At that time, it was Mayor Bloomberg, and it’s essentially a job placement program. And so they actually found the 32BJ Training Fund, and they were hiring because they received a large grant from the Department of Labor through the Recovery Act for the Green Supers training. And so that’s how I first got into 32BJ training and did the metrics for the program. So I was with the training fund for four years. And what I love about our organization is that we’re also allowed to do the training. So I did all the green training, because again, I didn’t know anything about buildings, but I did know what climate change was and the principles behind it. And I had very supportive supervisors.

And I enjoyed it. So did, you know, I was there for four years and then I moved to part time because I took the time to take my master’s at UPenn. And since it was in person, I had to move to Philly for a while. And my focus was on environmental education, environmental studies with a focus on education and advocacy. And then from there, I worked at LaGuardia Community College and I helped train unemployed and incarcerated New Yorkers to help them find jobs. So that’s where my workforce development started. And then I worked at CUNY SPS with the EMI team to train city building operators under the. sure. So CUNY SPS is a School of Professional Studies, if I’m not mistaken. And the EMI team is the Energy Management [Institute] team that works with DCAS.

Ellen Honigstock

Can you say what those acronyms are?

Michaela Boren 

[DCAS] is the Department of Citywide Administrative Services. Our group was the one that offered the green training to city building operators. So it was really cool seeing how the city, how city buildings were operated and seeing how we have a ton of city building operators that really care for our beautiful old historical buildings in New York City and really trying to find ways to make our city greener. Comparing it to, you know, the residential and commercial buildings that are not city-owned. And then from there, I worked at EN-Power Group, which is an energy engineering firm. I was a lighting project manager. So lighting is ingrained in me whenever I walk into a building. That’s one of the first things I look at. 

Ellen Honigstock

Me too.

Michaela Boren 

And that’s not conscious anymore, like that’s natural. You know, it’s like, can never, like I go on vacation and I’m in a park in a building in the middle of nowhere and you see me looking at the lights first before I start looking for drafts and the windows and doors. 

Ellen Honigstock

Yeah, it’s a curse. I do the same. It’s terrible.

Michaela Boren 

And then after that, when my predecessor Bob Muldoon left for California, the 32BJ Training Fund called me back and now I’m in my current position. So that’s essentially the story of how I came to be here and now.

Ellen Honigstock

That was a great; I didn’t know most of that. That was great. Thank you so much. Okay. So now we have a good sense of you and how you got here. Thank you for that. Tell us a little bit about the Training Fund and how it works and how it relates to the 32BJ union itself.

Michaela Boren 

So the 32BJ Training Fund is a joint labor management partnership and we offer training to eligible union members at no cost. So it’s free training to union members. Now think of how you have health benefits from your work, right? Training is one of the benefits of 32BJ members [get].

They’re frontline workers that keep all types of buildings running, especially in a city like New York. Our members include cleaners, security guards, porters, door persons, concierge, handy persons, and supers. So our organization is described as a joint labor management partnership because our organization is the outcome of the 32BJ union, which represents labor, and building owners or management companies under the Realty Advisory Board or represented by the Realty Advisory Board and they partner together. 

So, we actually answer to both the union and to building management companies, which is actually really great because every time we have an advisory council where we have all our stakeholders, they’re very supportive of green [building]. Every time I need ideas or advice or guidance on certain, you know, on how we want the green programs to go, they’re there.

Ellen Honigstock

Right, you don’t have to guess what the members need. You have immediate advice from the employers. That’s really good.

Michaela Boren 

Yes. And everybody is so open, which I really appreciate and very communicative. So our funding is supported by contributions negotiated between the union and employers. And that is why our union members don’t have to pay for training. So our mission is really to educate our workers, our building service workers to build environments where you, me, everybody want to live and work. So think of the amount of time we spend indoors. It’s an average of 90%. And who ensures that the indoor environmental quality in that space is continuously safe and clean and well maintained? That’s building operators, right? And as a member once said, a building is like an expensive car.

You want to make sure that your crew and your driver is properly, can properly operate and maintain, you know, that investment. And so another reason why training is very important: for existing buildings, good operations and maintenance can save 5 to 20% on costs. And by 2050, all the new buildings now are all going to be considered existing buildings anyway, down the road. Right? So as much as a lot of focus is given to new construction, eventually there are going to be existing buildings that our building operators need to know how to operate and maintain properly. So on our end, training is very important, especially now if we want to reach our decarbonization goals and support and maintain the growth of the building industry.

Ellen Honigstock

Thank you. So back in 2009, I was one of those instructors in that first cohort of what they then called “the 1000 Supers” program. But because they very quickly surpassed 1000, it’s been called the Green Supers program, I think for a long time. So it’s grown a ton in the last 15 years. So can you tell us about your facility and the types of training that you have, as well about where [the training] used to be to where it is now?

Michaela Boren 

At that time when you came in with that more than 1000 people that we trained, you know, they hired me to call everybody who completed the program to see if they did something in their building. So I talked to almost more than 2000 people. It was really fun, though. It was really fun. And that’s why I had to take the training so that I could communicate with them. But anyway, back to the question.

Ellen Honigstock

That’s amazing.

Michaela Boren 

In 2009 and 2010, we had around 100 courses. And if you remember, that was when New York City started its green local laws. I think we came out with the first three, right? Now, 15 years later, I’m happy to share that the training fund has over 250 courses. And a little over 25 are green.

Ellen Honigstock

Wow.

Michaela Boren 

Matching that is now what we have 14, 15 green local laws now in New York City that we need to stay up to date with. So throughout the years, you know, we have responded also to the change of all these laws. Now with the 250 courses that we offer, we divide them into seven groups.

Academic is the first one. So think of ESL, citizenship, Spanish for the workplace, American Sign Language, financial literacy. 

The second group is career development. So interviewing skills, resume writing, creating a career path. 

The third group is computers, which includes computer hardware and running a building with a computer. 

Industrial: so OSHA, HVAC, building automation systems, electricity troubleshooting.

We also have online courses like safe drivers and then security classes, which includes CPR, first aid, CCTV, bomb threat awareness, self-defense, and then the green classes. 

I’m really proud to say that if our members take all the green courses that we offer, they can earn up to 16 certificates and certifications from third parties and that includes GPRO and LEED and we actually pay for all those certification exams so as to really support [our students]. 

Ellen Honigstock 

That’s great.

Michaela Boren 

We offer all these courses in different ways. For in-person classes we have 54 locations, from Massachusetts down to Florida. So our members can go to any of those 54 locations. Our headquarters is here in Manhattan. Here in Manhattan, we have 23 classrooms. We have industry and academic classrooms. 

So if the audience attended or watched Urban Green’s event on workforce solutions, on decarbonization, decarbonizing buildings in November that was actually set in our carpentry room, which was pretty cool. That was the first time we did that, right? Have all the equipment there. We also offer classes remote, online, on site, which means it’s normally requested by employers for customized training in their building. So it could be anything from workplace harassment, recycling, or customer service. So anything in our 250 list of courses.

Ellen Honigstock 

That was really cool. That’s amazing. I would urge the listeners to take a look at the catalog because it’s really something to see how many courses that they are constantly updating and offering. And we’ll post a link on the description page. So the last time I was at 32BJ, I loved that the word “training” is like cut out from in like green paper or something. So it’s just a sort of a… message that training is green. I know it’s not all– you just described a lot of it– but you have mentioned in the past that you have really integrated sustainability in many more ways. I’m curious to hear how and how that’s how people have received it and how that’s going?

Michaela Boren 

Now, I think first and foremost, the topic of health and safety is always a priority in all our courses, so that’s always the first thing that we add into it. Also, our green training complements our other industry courses, and this enables our members to tie all the building systems together and practice that whole building approach.

Right, because all our industry classes are divided by HVAC, Electricity, Carpentry, Plumbing, versus when you come to the green classes, you need to know a little bit of each and piece it all together and know how they affect one another. And we recently have required green courses for all our career tracks. So if you look at our catalog,

We have different career tracks to help our members figure out, you know, how they want to move up in the industry. Like, do they want to work in a commercial building, residential building? And if they do, you know, what titles are they aiming for and what type of work would they like to do and what training or certifications do they need to get there? And so before we had two green career tracks separate: one was green residential and one was green commercial. But as a member once said, running your building in a green way is good for the building and good for the people in the building. And it saves money. So why not run it in a green way? 

And now with this many green laws, not just in New York City, in, you know, throughout the country, we want to make sure that we set up our building service workers for success and separating the green courses from the other career tracks doesn’t really do that because it’s an option. It becomes an option, not a requirement. So we made the decision to remove the two green career tracks and require green courses in each of the current career tracks. So if you want to be a cleaner, if you want to be a super handy person, a resident manager, and building engineer, you have to take green courses. You need to know what’s going on.

Ellen Honigstock 

Yeah, it’s interesting because when I, you know, I started in this job in 2010, right when you started, you know, your first foray at the 32BJ Training Fund. And a lot of our work was, you know, trying to convince people. And I just, from what I see, it seems like you don’t have to convince people as much. You were just providing the training. When did that happen? Do you think it was just the laws or what was the precipitating factor for that?

Michaela Boren 

I think it was a number of things, not just the laws, but getting more funding for certain projects, know, the media, technology, and just a lot more people talking about it, especially when every new building that’s being constructed is greener one way or another. And so it just came about. 

I’d also like to think that our building operators talk to each other a lot, you know, the same way we were in college and we talked about professors or courses that we like to take. It’s the same here for us. I mean, the training fund actually is also called a school by our members, you know, they use the term “school” or call it a school instead of the Training Fund. I think that’s how.

And now, I don’t have to say it anymore. Students know the building industry is going green whether we like it or not. And if they don’t learn more about green, they’re going to be behind the curve.

Ellen Honigstock 

Yeah, I mean, it’s really, it’s always been great for Urban Green. mean, like you guys are some of our best partners and we have thoroughly enjoyed working with you all the time, but it’s been really nice to watch from a little bit from afar how the sustainability practices have been normalized across your memberships much faster than the industry at large. you know, and kudos to you and your team. Like you guys do a really, really good job.

Michaela Boren 

Yeah, and you know, it helps that the union and our employers are very supportive. I mean, the training fund staff and our director Linda is also very green. So we’re trying to walk the talk. I mean, we have a sustainability committee in our building that is both the funds and the union together. We, you know, if we’re teaching it in school, then we’re trying to apply it in our building as well. We’re transparent with our green efforts through our sustainability report that goes out to everybody every Earth Day.

Ellen Honigstock 

Great. Well, kudos to you and keep up the good work. It’s been fantastic partnering with you and just great to be part of it. Thank you very much, Michaela Boren. We so appreciate your sharing all of your experience with us today. We’ll make sure that all the resources from the episode will be linked in the description.

And I want to just give a big thank you to Urban Greens members and sponsors who provide much needed support for programs like this one. And if you’d like to become a member, please visit urbangreencouncil.org. And thanks for tuning in today. If you are enjoying this podcast, please consider subscribing so that you don’t miss out on any of these great conversations. See you next time!

Resources

32BJ Training Fund website

32BJ Training Fund Course Catalog

32BJ SEIU website