GREENLeaders program grows

Earlier this month I completed the Sustainable Furnishings Council’s Greenleaders training. The webinar class is divided into six hour-long sessions with exams following each lesson. The course gives CEU credit and costs $299.

The course is a good primer on green home furnishings and the questions that inevitably come when addressing the category.

Jeff Hiller, president of the Sustainable Furnishings Council, said the organization has had 250 participants take its Greenleaders course. Typical class sizes have about 25 students, compared to the first class a year ago that had six participants, he said.

Upon completion of the course, you receive a Certificate of Course completion, business cards and a copy of the SFC Green Furnishings Consumer Study. You can add GREEN AP to your list of titles.

You also get a form press release that tells how you’ve completed the course. There are several postings online of folks who have used this form.

According to SFC Executive Director Susan Inglis, the organization is seeing more interior designers take Greenleaders than other group in the furniture industry.

Hiller added that designers “are constantly looking for an edge in expertise to justify their clients choosing to work with a designer rather than doing it themselves or relying on store staff. They also hear more questions in this area, especially about healthy homes.”

Retailers also are becoming interested in the Greenleaders course, he said.

The SFC tweaks the course as new information becomes available, and one to 10 slides will get updated from class to class, Hiller said. The organization is also preparing a continuing education credit maintenance course that current Green accredited professionals will take to maintain accreditation.

This is a course that could easily be broadcast from a recording (except for the question period at the end), but the group presents it live. The SFC is looking into the possibility of training more trainers.

Hiller said the training program has had a good start and been well-received by its participants.

“It is one of the things we are doing to raise awareness and increase practical knowledge at the grass roots level,” Hiller said.

The SFC current has Greenleaders courses scheduled for Estero, Fla., on Feb. 24, New York on March 18, High Point on April 21 and Minneapolis on May 5.

You can find more information about registration and the course at the SFC’s Web site here.