Back to School

Pablo Chamorro is one of the pioneers. He’s among the first 15 graduates of the New York City Building Operator Training Program, part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s OneNYC plan to cut the city’s greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by the year 2050. Supers, property managers, building owners, even board members in small to mid-size co-ops and condos are eligible for the free 35-hour training course, which focuses on maintaining buildings systems, with an emphasis on eliminating waste and increasing energy efficiency.

Chamorro, 41, a super in Brooklyn, is already seeing benefits from the training program, which he completed in January. “Preventing water loss is one of the major lessons, and I started that right away,” he says. “I learned how to compare meter readings to find indications of water loss. Prior to this, I would have to go to each apartment and inspect all aspects of the plumbing in each one. This is much more efficient. I’ve also installed aerators, which cut down on water usage dramatically.”

The most valuable lesson of the program? “It’s all about inspection,” Chamorro says. “Inspection and awareness. I loved this program. It was very educational. The book they gave us is a bible to superintendents. If you use what’s in the book, you can save management a lot of money.”

The “book” is the course curriculum, which was put together by Asit Patel, president of ANP Energy Consulting Services, who taught Chamorro and his fellow pioneers in the initial class and also trained nine instructors to teach future classes. The goal of the New York City Building Operator Training Program is to train more than 300 operators annually for a total of 3,000 in 10 years. Co-op and condo boards can learn more about the program and how start the application process by visiting the website at www.cunybpl.org/opstraining/.