The numbers on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions don’t lie, decarbonization is here to stay, and facility managers are essential players in its success.
Buildings are responsible for 40 percent of global GHG emissions and of those, building operations are responsible for 27 percent of all GHG emissions. Facility managers play a huge role in reducing their buildings’ carbon emissions and mitigating the worst effects of climate change. Now, they have another resource to rely on and voice to listen to in their decarbonization efforts.
ASHRAE recently announced its inaugural group of Certified Decarbonization Professionals (CDP) to support the effort to reduce carbon emissions in the built environment.
The Certified Decarbonization Professional (CDP) program is an international certification that validates the competency of decarbonization professionals to assess, analyze, and develop effective and sustainable strategies to reduce or eliminate the life-cycle carbon footprint of buildings. This certification enables industry professionals to demonstrate to peers, employers and building owners competency in critical building decarbonization job tasks.
The CDP certification program is designed for professionals who are responsible for decarbonizing new and existing buildings. Eligibility requirements include education and work experience, a code of professional conduct and passing a rigorous certification exam validating competency in building decarbonization job tasks across eight domains: decarbonization drivers, project planning and development, construction and renovation, passive and active efficiency, facility management and distributed-energy resources.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.
