The Building Stack
The Building StackAdvanced building systems and electrification upskilling

The buildings got smarter. The training never caught up.

The Building Stack trains building staff, residents and college students to run the heat pumps, controls and data already installed in New York buildings. Participants prep for two national credentials and train in real buildings, on an evening schedule built around work.

Launching soon. First cohorts are forming now.

Join the interest list I hire building staff
300New Yorkers across two tracks
2Tracks, pathway and upskilling
13Cohorts planned
2National credentials

Planned figures across both tracks. Each track is funded separately, and funding for both is pending.

Two tracks, one building

The Building Stack runs as two tracks, each funded separately. Both prepare people for the same two national credentials.

Career Pathway

For people starting out in building operations and staff ready to move up. Training, then a job or a promotion, with coaching after the start date.

200graduates over 24 months

Cohorts
8 cohorts of about 25
Training
Two tiers, 60 hours each
Credentials
GPRO O&M and BPI heat pump assessor
Outcomes
50 placements and 50 advancements
Priority
75%+ from disadvantaged communities

Advanced Upskilling

For building staff, residents and college students ready to run building systems and data. Seven weeks of evening classes, then a hands-on capstone.

100people over 18 months

Cohorts
5 cohorts of 20
Training
84 hours over seven weeks
Credentials
GPRO O&M and BPI heat pump assessor
Focus
Skills for the current job and the next one
Priority
50%+ from disadvantaged communities

Every floor maps to the training

A building is a stack. Every floor has equipment, a person responsible for it, and software that records what happened.

Most training covers one of those layers, if any. The Building Stack teaches all three together, in the order people use them on the job. Porters and handypersons can start at the ground floor and work their way up.

Why this exists

Ask a super in a brand-new building how the system works and you'll often hear “kind of, not really.”He keeps a notepad of which switches to flip.

New York buildings now have solar, heat pumps, meters and building automation systems. The equipment works. Nobody trained the people running it.

When staff can't read the controls, they work around them. A common fix for one cold apartment is pulling a sensor, which leaves the whole building running blind. That wastes energy, costs owners money and makes good equipment look bad.

The Building Stack closes that gap. It teaches the equipment, the data and the software together, in the order people actually use them on the job.

How each track runs

Career Pathway, tier by tier

Two tiers of training, then placement with an employer and coaching after the start date.

  1. 1

    Tier 1, 60 hours

    Building operations, property management systems and GPRO prep, plus a 21-hour Career Accelerator.

    Credential
  2. 2

    Tier 2, 60 hours

    Building data, BMS/BAS and heat pump assessor prep, with supervised work-based learning.

    Credential
  3. 3

    Placement and coaching

    Interviews with employers, a verified start, and coaching after day one.

Advanced Upskilling, week by week

Classes run on weekday evenings. Lectures are online, and the walkthrough and capstone happen in person.

  1. 1

    GPRO Operations and Maintenance

    How building systems run, and how to keep them running.

    Credential
  2. 2

    Building data, BMS and local law

    Reading trends, setpoints and alarms, plus the local laws buildings answer to.

  3. 3

    Property management systems

    Hands-on work in the platforms owners use for work orders and records.

  4. 4

    BPI heat pump assessor

    A 30-hour course on heat pump readiness, with prep for the BPI exam.

    Credential
  5. 5

    Walkthrough and capstone

    A real building first, then a supervised test bed.

    In person

Building staff

Porters, handypersons, maintenance staff, supers and building engineers who want to run the new equipment with confidence and move up.

Residents

People who live in New York buildings and want a career running them, starting close to home.

College students

College students and recent graduates heading into clean energy who want hands-on skills and the credentials employers ask for.

For employers and property managers

Hire graduates from the Career Pathway, or send your staff through Advanced Upskilling. Either way, you get people who can run the equipment you already paid for.

Talk to us about your staff

You give

  • A letter with your hiring needs or head count
  • A building we can use for a walkthrough
  • Feedback after each cohort

You get

  • New hires matched to your roles, with coaching after the start date
  • Current staff who can read the building's data
  • Prep for two national credentials
0102030405Every hire hasa next step.

How the employer side runs

EqualAccess runs workforce programs through the Workforce Wheel, five phases around one worker, with an owner for every gap between them.

  1. 01
    Employer demand

    Employers name the roles and skills they need before anyone is recruited.

    Both tracks
  2. 02
    Recruit and intake

    Open to anyone willing to do the work, with expectations said out loud up front.

    Both tracks
  3. 03
    Train and support

    Credentials, hands-on hours and support, so real life does not end enrollment.

    Both tracks
  4. 04
    Match and place

    People matched to roles by behavioral fit, with interviews set before the last class.

    Career Pathway
  5. 05
    Post-placement coaching

    Coaching with every placement, for the worker and the supervisor, then a path to the next role.

    Career Pathway

In the Career Pathway, EqualAccess runs all five phases, with coaching included with every placement. In Advanced Upskilling, EqualAccess brings in property owners, refers building staff, hosts the walkthroughs and teaches the property management systems piece.

Learn about EqualAccess

Who's building it

  • Program leadBoth tracks

    Runs the program, the curriculum and the instructors. LIFE3 also operates the Climate Tech Academy.

    life3.io
  • Employers and placementBoth tracks

    Brings in property owners, places Career Pathway graduates with coaching after the start date, and teaches the property management systems piece.

    theequalaccess.com
  • Technical trainingBoth tracks

    Delivers GPRO operations and maintenance training and the heat pump assessor course with prep for the BPI exam.

    greentechleaders.com
  • Outreach and recruitmentCareer Pathway

    Community outreach across Brooklyn and the Bronx, all the way into enrollment.

    soulfulsynergy.org
  • Career coachingCareer Pathway

    Career readiness instruction and one-on-one coaching through to interviews.

  • Test bed and capstoneAdvanced Upskilling

    Built the mobile building automation test bed participants train on before they touch a live system.

    thermoverse.com
  • RecruitmentAdvanced Upskilling

    Connects CUNY students and community members to the program through its mentoring network.

    thecitytutors.org
  • Support partnerAdvanced Upskilling

    Hosts the program test bed at its Queens location.

    willdan.com

Partner roles are being finalized ahead of launch.

Learn about the credentials and resources

Building Performance Institute

Issues the cold climate heat pump assessor credential participants prepare for.

GPRO from Urban Green Council

Green building training for the trades, including Operations and Maintenance.

NYC Accelerator

Free help for New York building owners on local law compliance and upgrades.

Join the interest list

The first cohorts are forming now. Tell us who you are and we'll reach out when enrollment opens.

Employers and partner organizations can use the same form. We'll follow up directly.

Prefer email?
info@thebuildingstack.org

We only use this to contact you about the Building Stack.