FIFTEEN LOCAL CONSTRUCTION PROFESSIONALS recently received their Leadership In Energy And Environmental Design (LEED) certificates from the Barbados Coalition of Service Industries (BCSI) in a presentation at the coalition’s Pine Plantation Road headquarters.
BCSI executive director Lisa Cummins said the training was part of the BCSI’s commitment to lead the charge in diversifying the resource base of the services sector and placing the sector on a strong footing to enable more competitive exporting of services.
“The successful completion of this first cohort of trainees is an indication that Barbados is moving closer still to its goal of both diversifying its services sector and stimulating growth in new areas as well as making new strides in equipping its professionals with the tools to effect the transformation into a green economy,” she said.
The LEED online training and examination support programme was launched August 28 in collaboration with the German Agency For International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Caribbean Export Development Agency.
It allowed 35 local and regional construction professionals from the architecture, engineering, interior design, construction and project-management service sectors the opportunity to be certified in this environmentally sustainable and industry-driven accreditation.
Armed with this new credential, which is increasingly being required in large global and even domestic construction contracts, professionals can now enter markets such as the United States, Canada and Europe where such international environmental standards are becoming the tool by which market entry is regulated.
GIZ project manager Robert Glass said the initiative “could potentially facilitate the transformation of the domestic and regional marketplace”. (PR/NB)
