Hawaii Building Engineers Association

Energy ACT 2005

Developed over four years, and over 1,700 pages long, the recently signed Energy Policy Act of 2005 extends previous Congressional direction to facility managers with even greater goals of energy efficiency improvements in existing and new facilities, increased use of renewable energy sources, advanced utility metering, and procurement of energy efficient equipment in all applicable contracts. This legislation is brand new and contains energy efficiency tax credits and new ways to retain savings. It changes the face of the energy business in both public and private sectors throughout the country.

Training and Investment

Learning Curve

Investing in training technicians maximizes earning potential. Many companies spend 50- 70 % of their earnings on employee salaries, but spend less than 1% of their budget to train them. That’s a mistake. Many of the maintenance company’s state they train their workers but fail to explain how they are able to accomplish the training utilizing skilled trainers. Teaching a bad way increases the worst results and in the end the bad teaches the bad.  Utilizing outside trainers costs money but the rewards are excellent and the return on investment is satisfied customers.

Make the Decision to Train

You would like to train but are worried it requires too much time and sacrifices too many billable hours. Take a longer view, though, and you will see that the investment delivers

significant benefits, happier customers, more motivated technicians, and a larger bottom line.

Focus Training Efforts

To ensure training success, focus on your technicians’ needs and respect their time constraints. Schedule classes in the morning or evenings to minimize disruption, Lunch hour training and feedback is a great way to establish feedback and increase morale.  Make your training relevant to the specifics of the building emphasizing solutions to existing problems.

Verification and Variance in Training

The three steps to learning are accomplished by the subject matter being presented, the student being shown how to do it, the technician doing the task under supervision and last, through repetition. Most employers think that teaching a subject once is enough. That is rarely true, it generally takes seven or more exposures to a new idea before we can recall and apply it. Use multiple strategies, such as hands-on applications, instructional videos and drawings to make an idea “stick.” Consider giving each technician a topic to teach. This helps the presenter verify mastery and discover gaps in knowledge. In fact, verifying understanding is the key to successful training, and there are many to do it; explaining something in your own words, demonstrating a skill, locating a component, or talking the class through a troubleshooting procedure. In short, provide techs a variety of opportunities to prove that they really do “get it.” The best training is focused, drives home ideas with repetition and variety, and verifies learning.

Reinforce and Reward

Observe, coach, and reward technicians for applying their learning, and watch the results. Along with increases in pay for them, you will see more satisfied customers and proud and devoted employees.