Certified Green Dealer adds four new continuing ed training modules

The Certified Green Dealer™ Program, the nation’s only program for certifying the nation’s green lumber and building material dealerships, today announced that it has added four, new, green continuing-education training modules.

For dealers entering their second year in the Program, it is required that 75% of the sales personnel take four continuing-education modules to maintain their Certified Green Dealer status. The continuing-education modules have been added to accommodate Certified Green Dealers who are “reupping” in the Program for their second year. To date, the rate of return for dealers who entered the program in 2007 and 2008 is 100%.

As with all the Program’s training, the new modules are available for viewing through the Program’s website. The four new modules cover Certified Wood; Decking; Treated Lumber; and Adhesives, Caulks, & Sealants.

The Certified Green Dealer Program also announced that three more regional lumber dealer associations will co-market and endorse the Program to their members. The new associations are The Construction Suppliers Association; The Indiana Lumber & Builders’ Supply Association, and most recently the Southern Builder Material Association. These regional lumber dealer associations join eight other regional lumber dealer associations in backing Certified Green Dealer.

With eleven regional lumber dealer associations backing the Program, the Certified Green Dealer Program now has more than half that nation’s “regionals” as marketing and certification partners.

The Certified Green Dealer™ Program has experienced remarkable success since its launch. In mid-November 2008, The Program announced its Website had surpassed one million (1,000,000) page views. Today the Program’s website has achieved 1.4 million page views.

Thousands of sales personnel at hundreds of dealer locations have already completed or are engaged in the Certified Green Dealer Program’s online training. These dealer locations include yards from national chains such as Bradco and Allied Building Supply, and members of buying co-ops such as Do it Best and ENAP, as well as many other independent lumber dealerships.

About the Certified Green Dealer™ Program

A fully independent entity, The Certified Green Dealer Program is a distance-learning and testing system that certifies that lumber dealer personnel are trained in the basics of green building science and green product knowledge. A lumberyard or building material dealer location can become a Certified Green Dealer if 75% of its sales personnel view a series of web-based training videos (and pass eight individual quizzes) about building basics, green building, and green building products.

The Program is not affiliated with any particular national standards-setting organization, such as NAHB, USGBC’s LEED program, FSC, or SFI, though those programs are explained in the Certified Green Dealer online content.

The Certified Green Dealer Program is entirely web-based and can be accessed by visiting CertifedGreenDealer.com. At the Program’s website, interested parties can view with no commitment a brief, free video that explains the Program. A sample educational module from the Program is also available for viewing with no obligation.

To participate in the Certified Green Dealer™ Program, lumber and building material dealers pay a per-yard tuition fee, which is currently $899 per yard in the first year and $599 in subsequent years to maintain certification.

To learn more about the Certified Green Dealer Program, visit CertifiedGreenDealer.com or call 877-LBM-GREEN (877-526-4733).