NECA

Green Construction Panel Features NECA Contractors, Staff

When the National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED) decided to host panels of speakers to discuss the ubiquitous topic of green construction at their National Electrical Leadership Summit meeting in San Francisco, they turned to the leaders of electrical construction — NECA contractors.

Joe Salimando, a writer for NAED’s TED Magazine and a long-time consultant who works closely with NECA and the NECA-IBEW National Labor-Management Cooperation Committee, hosted two separate panels. The first featured industry experts who forecast the near-future impact green construction will have on the electrical industry. The panelists included:

• John Maisel, the publisher of NECA’s Electrical Contractor magazine,
• Bernie Kotlier, Director of Green Building Solutions for NECA’s Los Angeles Chapter and IBEW Local 11, and
• Fred Paris, an independent consultant specializing in strategic planning, sales and business development.

The panelists agreed that green is the future of construction, with challenges and opportunity awaiting all in the electrical industry. Maisel offered some statistics to support this prospect, including figures from McGraw Hill that state that by 2010 green construction will be a $60-billion market, with a product market of $30 billion- to 40 billion. According to Maisel, “Green construction is no longer a far-off ‘movement,’ it is a large, viable market.” 

The second panel consisted of individuals who are actively working in green construction and face the challenges of this emerging market — electrical contractors. Three of the four panelists are NECA-member contractors:

• Erica Paul from Rosendin Electric of San Jose, California, an estimator with LEED Professional Accredi- tation who also serves the company as Green Team Leader and LEED trainer;
• Jeff Withers, manager of Collins Electric in Stockton, California, and a member of the NECA National Marketing Committee; and
• Jon M. Orrell, RCDD, Construction Director for EC Company in Portland Oregon.

The fourth panelist was Gordon Stewart, an electrical contractor from Houston, Texas.

All three NECA contractors shared insight into their companies’ unique projects and experiences in green construction. They also shared valuable information as to how electrical distributors could become more involved in assisting contractors as they seek the technology and products necessary for green projects.

Following the presentations, the electrical distributors in the audience took advantage of the opportunity to question the NECA contractors — their customers — so they could better understand their role in the green construction market. According to Rob Colgan, executive director of marketing for NECA, the panels were valuable on several levels.

“These panels were a great opportunity for our members to share their experiences working in this rapidly expanding market with the electrical distributors, the professionals they do business with every day,” he said. “The electrical distributors walked away with a better idea of the scope of work our contractors perform in green construction and an understanding of the kind of support they are going to need as they tackle these new opportunities.”

For more information, or for copies of the presentations, please contact Joe Salimando by e-mail at wordsmith@verizon.net.