Who Should Participate

The Sustainable Building Advisor (SBA) course is a nine-month, specialized training course and certification exam designed to enable graduates to advise employers or clients on strategies and tools for implementing sustainable building. The National Sustainable Building Advisor Program (NaSBAP), was created as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization for the sole purpose of offering this unique and comprehensive sustainable building curriculum to qualified providers. The curriculum is designed to give practicing professionals the tools they need to make our built environment truly sustainable. A nationally-based peer group of experts provide annual reviews of the material to maintain applicability and timeliness. Students in the program attend intensive sessions one weekend a month (full day Friday and Saturday) for nine months, learning through classroom instruction and on-site inspections of buildings. Students who successfully complete the SBA course are eligible to take the national certification exam and earn the designation Certified Sustainable Building Advisor (CSBA). The nine-month specialized training is entering its tenth year. 

Register for Alberta’s first offering of the SBA course!

Fall 2009; Calgary, Alberta

SBA History

• Architects and Engineers

• Tenant and Developer Representatives

• Project Managers

• Building owners/managers

• Other Building Industry Professionals

• Resource Conservation Specialists

• Anyone interested in sustainable building

Program Objectives

By the end of this course participants will be able to:

• Identify and articulate the key practices

  of sustainable building

• Establish competencies in applying

  LEED®, Built Green® and other relevant

  criteria or established guidelines

• Analyze the costs and benefits of

  incorporating sustainable building

  measures

• Take advantage of financial incentive

  and technical assistance offered by

  governments, utilities and non-profit

  organizations

• Work with architects, building operators,

  and utilities to improve a building’s

  performance

• Establish a sustainable design goal for

  project development

• Assist in the education and training

  of staff in sustainable building

• Upon successful course completion

  students are eligible to take the CSBA

  exam

1. •Save long term costs for building owners, operators, and tenants
   

2. •Improve the environmental social and economic viability of the region
   

3. •Reduce environmental impacts
   

4. •Decrease Owner liability
   

5. •Improve your skills in a rapidly growing field
   

Benefits of Course

Classes meet one weekend per month using a hands-on team approach to learning and are led by experts in various fields of sustainability.  Topics include site design, energy efficiencies, ventilation and air quality, and recycled-content materials.  Students leave each class session with knowledge about an aspect of sustainability that becomes a piece of the overall puzzle of the “integrated design” process.  Integrated design is a holistic method of involving all team players (owner, designers, contractor, maintenance, etc.)  to make decisions affecting the goals and desired outcomes of every project.

Class format includes lectures; videos; field trips/visits; reading/homework assignments; and team project analysis, which typically highlights a local building project.  The analyzed projects vary from year to year because they are drawn from the students.  Commercial, institutional, and residential sectors have been represented.  Teams work together on a project incorporating and evaluating sustainable building principles, culminating in a short group presentation at the end of the course. Some examples: a new residential development; the renovation and application of LEED EB to a historic firehouse, the new construction of the corporate headquarters of a well known international non-profit, and the revival of a 30 year old set of plans for small modular home for affordable housing to name a few.