Articles in this newsletter:
JJC Helps Naperville Train Energy Raters
Some Naperville Residents Will Get Free Energy Audits and Matching Funds Thanks to a Federal Grant and the City's Creative Partnering with Other Municipalities.
Qualified homeowners in the City of Naperville will soon get a free energy audit thanks to the City's use of a federal block grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and 30 hours of weatherization training from Joliet Junior College (JJC).
"Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the City of Naperville created five initiatives including the Home Energy Savings Program," said Naperville's Chief Building Official, Marvin Brooks, S.E., LIC. Arch. "Through the Home Energy Savings Program, the City will provide a minimum of 350 free single family residential energy audits, $1,500 in matching funds, and identify improvements to make the home more energy efficient."
The DOE provided the funding through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) which was designed to promote energy efficiency in Naperville.
To accomplish this goal, Naperville needed to train and certify energy auditors. Their plan was to prepare their five building inspectors for the Building Performance Institute's (BPI) certification examination for energy auditing. Before they could accomplish this goal, however, they had to resolve a number of budgetary constraints. Their solution was to do the training at their location and forge a partnership with surrounding communities and contractors who also wanted to become certified energy auditors.
"By forging a partnership with the surrounding communities and contractors we were able to not only meet a number of the principles and outcomes established by EECBG, but to also satisfy some of our own training and budgetary constraints," said Brooks. "Joliet Junior College provided the city with a great opportunity for both training, and certification. The training coordinator provided for a high degree of flexibility in designing a program to meet the city’s needs."
The City invited other municipalities to send participants to the training. Many accepted including Bolingbrook, Schaumburg, Hinsdale, Oak Brook, Woodridge, Hoffman Estates, and Wheaton. A number of contractors also attended including Hollywood Pros and Oak Brook Contractor, Dave Walwark. "By inviting these other municipalities and contractors to participate in the training, the City of Naperville amortized the total cost of the seminar maximizing the financial impact of this program," said Joe Giunta, contract training manager for JJC's Corporate and Community Services Division. "It was an intelligent and wise use of resources and fiscally responsible on the part of the City of Naperville."
According to Brooks, the city was following the stated purposes of the EECBG. "The stated purposes described in the overall intent of the EECBG Program were for each entity to use the funds in a cost-effective manner that is of maximum benefit to the population of that entity," said Brooks. "The vision encompassed in the training program was to allow for additional participants, and to also attempt to help develop a partnership with both the surrounding communities and local contractors." To this end, the city made good use of the budgeted $20,000 earmarked for training and equipment.
The training was conducted by James Cavallo, Ph.D. Dr. Cavallo has extensive experience in energy efficiency and environmental issues. He has led energy efficiency research in existing buildings for Argonne National Laboratory from 1993 until 2000 and was on the research staff at Argonne. He has also worked closely with the federal departments of Housing and Urban Development and Energy to create workshops to teach innovative strategies to capture healthy conservation opportunities.
Once the participants become certified energy auditors, they will begin the process of inspecting the Naperville homes that qualify for free energy audits.
For more information about this program and JJC's upcoming Weatherization and Heat Transfer course that prepares people for the certification exam, call Joe Giunta at (815) 280-2729, or e-mail
jgiunta@jjc.edu.
JJC Wins Star Award from National Safety Council
The National Safety Council presented Joliet Junior College (JJC) the Star Award at its 45th Anniversary Defensive Driving Course Banquet in Orlando, Florida on October 24, 2009. The college won the award for achievements that exceeded all other training centers in the DDC-4 Region. The Star Award is the highest honor the National Safety Council can present to a driving center.
"We train more people in defensive driving than any other training center in Illinois," said Amy Murphy, director of JJC's Corporate and Community Services division and supervisor of the Will County Traffic School which is part of the Corporate and Community Services division.
"Teaching people how to drive defensively is one of the most rewarding services we provide," said Murphy. "All of us are proud to be recognized by the National Safety Council as one of the best among the best."
Most of the students seem to agree with Murphy. Considering the fact that many of them attend these classes because they committed a traffic violation, it is revealing that so many say positive things about the program.
One student, for example, said that, "It made me think about how I want to change some of the ways that I drive." Another said that the course, "taught me about laws I didn't know about." And a third graduate of the course said, "I would like to have my kids go to this class before they get a ticket."
"We get positive comments from students because our instructors are true believers in this program," said Murphy. "Many of them are police officers, but a lot of them are people from other backgrounds who believe in the value of defensive driving and want to reduce accidents."
The college offers this program to anyone who has the option to dismiss a ticket from their record by taking the course, but it also enrolls people who may be able to reduce their insurance rates, or those who simply want to refresh themselves on the principles of safe driving.
JJC offers this course to high schools and businesses, too. "In November, we trained employees at Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railroad, for example. We are finding more businesses and area high schools expressing an interest in doing these courses on-site or just for them," said Murphy. It makes good business and community sense to teach people the essentials of defensive driving. Everyone wins.
For more information about Joliet Junior College’s Defensive Driving program, call Amy Murphy at
(815) 280-1418, or e-mail
amurphy@jjc.edu.
OSHA's Top 10 Safety Violations for 2009
Thirty Percent Increase over Last Year Indicates Need for Training
The U.S. Department of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has revealed the preliminary top 10 most-frequent workplace safety violations for 2009 as part of a presentation at the NSC's annual Congress & Expo. The number of top 10 violations has increased almost 30 percent over the same time period in 2008.
"I think the numbers reflect a real need to train or retrain workers in OSHA approved safety procedures," said Bruce Kuzmanic, contract training manager for Joliet Junior College's Corporate and Community Services Division. "In most cases, it is lack of employee training that causes the situations that result in costly violations and accidents."
The workplace violations are:
- Scaffolding – 9,093 violations
- Fall Protection – 6,771 violations
- Hazard Communication – 6,378 violations
- Respiratory Protection – 3,803 violations
- Lockout-Tagout – 3,321 violations
- Electrical (Wiring) – 3,079 violations
- Ladders – 3,072 violations
- Powered Industrial Trucks – 2,993 violations
- Electrical – 2,556 violations
- Machine Guarding – 2,364 violations
The final report on the Top 10 for 2009 violations will be published in the December edition of NSC's Safety+Health magazine.
To learn how your company can avoid safety violations with training from Joliet Junior College, call Bruce Kuzmanich at (815) 280-1512, or e-mail bkuzmani@jjc.edu.
Happy Holidays From Corporate and Community Services
