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GREENleaders Certified Training Receives Coveted LEED Curriculum Approval

Furniture World Magazine

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The Sustainable Furnishings Council announced that its GREENleaders course has been approved for credit in the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Continuing Education, the world-renowned certification system. The 6-ceu GREENleaders exam course, the first and most comprehensive certified sustainability training in the home furnishings industry, was created in 2009 by a LEED-AP and SFC founding member, and vetted by the Sustainable Furnishings Council board including ranking staff of World Wildlife Fund, Rainforest Alliance, and Founder of USGBC/LEED.
 
“LEED started the ball rolling by setting the standard for commercial buildings and sustainability education. GREENleaders represents a tremendous effort put into initiating, developing and delivering equally valuable education for the home furnishings industry that didn’t exist before,” says Mike Italiano, Founder of USGBC/LEED and CEO of Market Transformation to Sustainability.
 
LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, promotes sustainable building and development practices with strict rating systems and a curriculum. These courses offer credit toward the credential maintenance requirements of the LEED Green Associate and LEED Accredited Professional, with specialty professional credentials. The Sustainable Furnishings Council’s GREENleaders contributes an essential piece within the Education Review Body-approved continuing education courses. While most of the LEED programs focus on the building shell itself, GREENleaders is unique in exclusively focusing on furnishing the interior.  It is also distinguished by the practical business-building recommendations it provides.
 
"It has been wonderful to see how the SFC has developed in such a short time, from setting standards and sharing best practices to providing first class education, particularly in sensitizing the industry to the importance of verified legal wood sourcing," adds Mark Comolli, Director of Markets in the Forestry Division for Rainforest Alliance.
 
To date, over 600 home furnishing professionals have been certified by GREENleaders as Accredited Professionals in green residential furnishings, with many more on the way. The six-unit program is worth 6 continuing education credit hours for ASID and LEED, covering a wide-range of topics including the factual basis for environmental issues affecting our industry, consumer awareness and behavior, sourcing products and components, design issues and showroom operations.
 
“The response to the program has been terrific from the start,” says Jeff Hiller, current SFC President and chief developer of GREENleaders, “We have graduates from leading raw materials suppliers, manufacturers, importers, retailers, product and interior designers, literally every point in the supply chain. This is a major part of our plan to keep the industry growing through greening.”
 
The Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC) just celebrated its 5th anniversary as a professional, non-profit coalition of suppliers, manufacturers, retailers and designers formed to promote sustainable practices within the industry. The SFC is considered the leading organization in green home furnishings with the best opportunities for education and networking. Click here to learn more.
 
For those interested in GREENleaders certified training, the course is offered online as well as live in various locations throughout the US. To register, please contact admin@sustainablefurnishings.org or 919-967-1137.