Celebrating Two Years of Transformative Education

We are pleased to announce that our 5th, 2-year, Workforce Training Fund General Program Grant was completed in July of 2023. DiMella Shaffer, Leers Weinzapfel Associates, and BR+A Consulting Engineers collectively trained over 200 individuals across topics of green building rating systems, sustainability technical skills, software tools, and leadership skills.

These firms filled over 750 seats in a curriculum of 50 courses over a collective 500+ instruction hours. Some of these courses ran more than once, and ultimately the 23 instructors involved in this grant led a total of 90 training sessions.

Through the General Grant program, our firm completed energy modeling and high-performance envelope training which allowed our staff to provide more expert consulting services on projects. This training program included newly hired staff and allowed us to expand our in-house energy analysis team by 36%. – BR+A Consulting Engineers

The consortium firms were able to celebrate many achievements at the end of their grant period. A handful of those are listed below:

• 36% growth in number of energy team members on staff
• 85% of projects completed high-performance envelope analysis
• 24% increase in revenue from existing clients and
• 27% increase in gross annual revenue
• 19% increase in the number of proposals converted into awarded contracts
• Overall employee understanding of sustainable design principles has deepened, allowing for more effective communication with specialty consultants

Over the course of the 2-year grant period we have been able to provide our staff access to educational courses to help further their careers and elevate the expertise which we put to use on projects. Our employees are now able to work more effectively to deliver and improve design outcomes for our existing and new clients. – DiMella Shaffer

During our grant period, Massachusetts and local municipalities have adopted significantly more stringent building energy codes. The knowledge and technical skills provided by the General Program grant have prepared our employees to meet this rising challenge. – Leers Weinzapfel Associates

We applaud DiMella Shaffer, Leers Weinzapfel Associates, and BR+A for their immense effort to provide their staff with skills and tools needed to excel on sustainable building projects over the past two years, and can’t wait to see the results of their hard work pay off on the projects they take part in going forward. BE+ would also like to thank all of the instructors we partnered with who provided hours upon hours of high quality, informative, and engaging training.

Built Environment Plus (BE+) manages grants through Commonwealth Corporation’s Workforce Training Fund General Grant Program to improve the continuing education opportunities available to building industry professionals. The General Grant Program provides firms the opportunity to take up to $200,000 worth of training over a two year period.

Participating in the General Grant Program is an effective way to provide valuable skills to your firm’s staff across all departments and experience levels. If you are interested in being considered for a future General Grant, reach out to BE+ to learn more!