Sustainability Facility Professional Credential
Online Format 

Live, Interactive Classes via the Internet 

Fourteen Meetings: Tuesdays and Thursdays between October 8, 2013, and January 28, 2014, 6-9 p.m. Central time
Limited enrollment 

Fee: $2,795  CEUs: 4.2
If registering by September 24: $2,595 
Note: Fees include the cost of study materials. There are no additional fees for the three online final assessments required for SFP designation.

Sustainability planning and administration requires a commitment to improving a facility’s impact on the environment and people—not just at one point in time but continually. Offered in a convenient online format, the Sustainability Facility Professional Credential (SFP) is a comprehensive training and assessment program that will provide a complete picture of how facility professionals and others can improve the sustainability of their facilities. Designed to prepare participants to pass the three final assessments required to achieve the IFMA-developed SFP industry credential, the Rice program is one of only three university programs of its kind in the country. Participants will learn how to make sound decisions about business activities and policy practices and discover how to use knowledge-based and data-driven methods to develop solutions that provide the highest value for your building, organization and community. Those who earn the credential will gain a competitive advantage by demonstrating that they meet industry-wide standards and can impact an organization’s economic, ecological and social bottom lines.

Online Information Sessions
Information sessions are scheduled for Thursday, August 15, and Tuesday, September 10, 2013, at noon Central time. The presentation will begin at noon Central time and end at approximately 12:30 p.m. RSVP Now. 

Who Should Attend: 

• Facility directors, managers or supervisors
• Operations/project/building managers
• Architects and designers
• Safety engineers
• Product/service suppliers and consultants in the facility management industry
• FMPs and CFMs
• LEED professionals (to earn 70 general CE hours)
• All industries

Schedule:
Focus Area 1: October 8, 10 and 15, 2013, 6-9 p.m. Central time
Focus Area 2: November 12, 14, 19 and 21, 2013, 6-9 p.m. Central time
Focus Area 3: January 7, 9, 14,16,21, 23 and 28, 2013, 6-9 p.m. Central time
The schedule includes a two-week break after each focus area to allow time for the final assessment.

Three Focus Areas: 

1. Strategy and alignment for sustainable facility management
   • Introduction to sustainability
   • Organizational strategies
   • Developing a sustainability strategy
   • Sustainability considerations
   • Sustainability goals and initiatives
   • Communicating and reporting on sustainability
    
2. Managing sustainable facilities
   • Sustainability policy development
   • Applying Sustainability to FM Plans
   • Sustainability program development
   • Change management
   • Performance management tools
   • Finance for sustainable facilities
   • Purchasing and procuring for sustainable facilities
   • Sustainability standards, systems and support
    
3. Operating sustainable facilities
   • Energy
   • Water
   • Materials and resources
   • Workplace management
   • Indoor environmental quality
   • Quality of services
   • Waste
   • Site impact      
      

  Three Final Assessments to Earn the SFP Credential 

Participants must pass with a score of 75 percent or higher on an online final assessment at the end of each focus area and apply to the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) to receive the SFP credential. There is no additional testing fee and you complete the assessments on your own computer.

Textbooks
The SFP Credential Program combines downloadable e-books, interactive online study tools and online SFP final assessments to help you earn the SFP credential. The study kit includes one-year access to downloadable e-books, pre-tests, quizzes, case studies, e-flashcards and glossary, and online resource center. You will have access to the online SFP final assessments until successful completion of each final assessment or for up to one year, whichever comes first.  

An online invitation to the online study kit will be provided to you via email after your register for the course. The online invitation will go to the email address you use when registering for the course and will come from IFMA.  

Advantages of Earning the SFP Credential: 

• Learn practical skills
• Challenge the status quo in your organization, taking advantage of your skills to create balance between sustainability and corporate mission
• Impact your organization’s triple bottom line by creating best practices to impact economic, ecological and social bottom lines
• Earn a competitive advantage
• Demonstrate you meet industry-wide standards
• Earn an industry credential recognized by employers and clients
• Earn 70 general CE hours if you are a LEED professional 

Employers Support the SFP Credential 

• Improve building efficiency
• Create a common vocabulary throughout your team
• Evaluate employees using the SFP knowledge as a baseline
• Strengthen corporate image by demonstrating to internal and external stakeholders the company’s commitment to sustainable practices

Why Rice? 

• Structured classes – not self-study
• Qualified instructor
• IFMA’s excellent textbooks and online study materials
• Supportive and responsive instructors and administration
• Convenient evening and weekend classes

International Facility Management Association
IFMA is the world’s largest and most widely recognized international association for professional facility managers, supporting more than 19,500 members in 78 countries. The association’s members, represented in 125 chapters and 16 councils worldwide, manage more than 37 billion square feet of property and annually purchase more than $100 billion in products and services. Formed in 1980, IFMA certifies facility managers, conducts research, provides educational programs and produces World Workplace, the world’s largest facility management conference and exposition.

Instructors:
Laurie A. Gilmer, P.E., CFM, SFP, LEED AP O+M, CxA, is an associate at Facility Engineering Associates (FEA) and leads its energy management and sustainability services. She has assisted facility managers in improving building systems operations, creating and implementing energy management plans, identifying energy saving opportunities and LEED certification for existing buildings. Her experience includes sustainability/LEED, systems analysis, energy audits, commissioning, building systems planning and controls review. She is a published author, and co-authored IFMA’s second manual in the Sustainability “How-To-Guide” Series, EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. FEA, in partnership with the IFMA Foundation, authored the first two guides in this series. She is a registered Professional Engineer, Certified Facility Manager, Sustainability Facility Professional, Certified Commissioning Authority and LEED Accredited Professional. Ms. Gilmer is also a member of IFMA’s Sustainability Committee and leads the measurement, monitoring, and reporting task group.

Christopher P. Hodges, P.E., CFM, LEED-AP, IFMA Fellow, FRICS, is a founding principal of Facility Engineering Associates (FEA), with more than 30 years of experience in building operations and facility management.  He is a Registered Professional Engineer, Certified Facility Manager (International Facility Management Association), and LEED™ Accredited Professional (U.S. Green Building Council). He is an active member of IFMA and has served terms as president of the Capital Chapter, member of the board of directors, member of IFMA’s education committee, IFMA Fellow and Fellow of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He currently serves as chair of IFMA’s sustainability committee and has authored numerous articles on sustainable facility management, including the “Getting Started” guide on sustainability in facility management for the IFMA Foundation. He is a master instructor on the IFMA faculty, teaches IFMA core competency courses (FMP, CFM, SFP), and routinely participates in new course development, curriculum development and promotion. He served as the lead subject matter expert for the development of IFMA’s Sustainability Facility Professional (SFP) credential. He has written, presented, and conducted workshops in the U.S. and internationally for IFMA (World Workplace), USGBC (GreenBuild), APPA, and numerous other organizations. Mr. Hodges is also a member of the adjunct faculty at George Mason University’s certificate program in facility management, and sustainability in existing buildings. 

Mayra D. Portalatin, SFP, LEED AP O + M, is a Civil & Environmental Engineer, a Sustainability Facility Professional, and a LEED Accredited Professional with more than 13 years of existing facilities’ consulting experience ranging from environmental to building condition assessments, as well as development and implementation of energy management and sustainability policies. She has managed sustainability assessments, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED^®) Certification projects and carbon emissions inventory projects. Aside from project-related experience in sustainability, she has spoken at various conferences, such as NAEP (2007), WMCCAI (2008), AASHE (2008), Greenbuild (2010), and NFMT (2011); and for property management groups about sustainability in the existing building environment. She has also been an instructor for LEED Green Associate and LEED Accredited Professional review courses. She has been an instructor for George Mason University’s Office of Continuing Education since 2010, where she teaches in their Sustainability Certificate Program. In 2011, she became an International Facility Management Association (IFMA) instructor for the Sustainability Facility Professional certification. Ms. Portalatin is co-author of the IFMA Foundation’s Sustainability “How-To-Guide” on Green Rating Systems. 

Maureen Roskoski, REPA, LEED AP O+M, Corporate Sustainability O, has worked with existing facilities on LEED certification, energy management and sustainability policies during her 15 years of practice. She has taken several clients through the LEED – EB certification process. Maureen has worked with commercial and federal facilities on energy audits, preparing Strategic Sustainability Performance Plans, and energy and sustainability training. She has presented in her area of expertise at several leading conferences, including IFMA’s World Workplace and Greenbuild. In addition, Maureen has led workshops for the New York Regional Chapter of APPA and Jones Lang LaSalle. She is one of the primary developers and instructors for George Mason University’s Professional Certificate in Sustainability for Existing Buildings Program. Maureen is a co-author of the IFMA "How-to Guide" on ENERGY STAR and Green Building Rating Systems.

Required Equipment
Participants in this online course must have access to a computer and the Internet as well as a headset with a microphone. Please review the Required Equipment and Minimum System Requirements to ensure that your computer can access the online collaboration environment. The names and contact information for all enrollees will be submitted to the Holmes Corporation at the time at the time the books are purchased. This is so that participants can be given access to the online components of the learning system. 

Refunds and Cancellations
No refunds will be issued on or after the day the program begins. If enrollment is canceled in writing two weeks before the program begins, a full refund will be given less the cost of any course materials the participant has received. When enrollments are canceled in writing less than two weeks before the program begins, a refund less a 20 percent processing fee and the cost of any materials the participant has received will be issued only if a replacement can be found for you.

Rice University Certificate of Achievement
Participants who complete all chapter tests for each focus area with a minimum grade of 75 by March 1 will receive a Rice certificate of achievement.

Co-Sponsor: International Facility Management Association (IFMA)