Partners
National Energy Management Institute
NEMI is a District of Columbia, nonprofit corporation sponsored by
the SMWIA and SMACNA (although they are not technically “members”
of NEMI). NEMI’s directors are comprised of equal numbers of labor
and management representatives and are appointed by SMWIA and SMACNA.
The Institute is exempt from federal income tax under §501(c)(3)
of the Internal Revenue Code. The National Energy Management Institute
Committee (NEMIC), a labor management committee established pursuant
to the Labor Management Cooperation Act of 1978 and funded by contributions
under collective bargaining agreements, is NEMI’s principal source
of funding.
NEMI’s purposes are educational, including developing training
materials and instructional aids in the arts and sciences of building
environmental systems and educating the public on ventilation systems
and their relationship to indoor environmental quality and energy management.
Its mission includes identifying emerging markets and employment opportunities
in the HVAC industry and developing programs to capitalize on them.
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Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association
SMACNA is an international association of union contractors with 1,908
members in 102 chapters throughout the US, Canada, Australia, and Brazil.
Members of SMACNA perform work in industrial, commercial, institutional,
and residential HVAC markets. They specialize in HVAC; architectural
and industrial sheet metal; kitchen equipment; specialty stainless steel
work; HVAC equipment manufacturing; siding and decking; testing and
balancing; service; and energy management and maintenance.
SMACNA has developed technical consensus standards and manuals that
are widely accepted by the construction community in the US as well
as foreign governments. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
has accredited SMACNA as an industry consensus standards-setting organization.
These standards and manuals address all facets of the sheet metal industry
including ventilation duct construction and installation, air quality
control, energy recovery, and roofing. SMACNA’s Technical Resources
Department responds to several thousand technical requests annually
from architects, engineers, manufacturers, and government personnel,
and more than 17,000 orders for SMACNA technical manuals are processed
and shipped world wide each year from SMACNA national headquarters.
SMACNA is recognized not only for its publications and standards, but
also for its international presence and contributions to other standards
setting organizations. For example, SMACNA holds an organizational membership
on the American Society of Heating Refrigeration, and Air-conditioning
Engineers (ASHRAE) Standing Standards Project Committee (SSPC) 62.1,
which is responsible for the continuous maintenance of that organization’s
indoor air quality and ventilation standard. As a collaborative participant
in these standards processes, SMACNA plays a pivotal role in bringing
practical knowledge to the table.
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Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association
SMWIA serves more than 150,000 members. As an international labor
union with membership in the AFL-CIO and the Canadian Labour Congress,
SMWIA provides policy direction and program support on behalf of its
membership in maintaining the union's jurisdiction over various types
of sheet metal and related work in the US and Canada. The union’s
members perform work in the building and construction trades, production
manufacturing, and in the railroad and shipyard industries.
Labor and management relations are unique to the unionized sector of
this industry. Periodically, SMWIA and the SMACNA negotiate a Standard
Form of Union Agreement to assist SMWIA local unions and SMACNA contractors
in the collective bargaining process, operate the National Joint Adjustment
Board to settle labor disputes, and promote the industry nationally
and internationally.
Local unions are chartered by SMWIA to represent their members’
interests in employment within their respective geographical areas.The
local unions negotiate contract agreements with employers, assist members
in obtaining and maintaining employment, cooperate with local SMACNA
chapters in providing training and in promoting the industry, organize
new members, and manage the day-to-day operations.
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International Training Institute
SMWIA and SMACNA co-sponsor the International Training Institute (ITI),
which produces and distributes a wide range of training materials for
sheet metal workers. ITI and NEMI support 165 local Joint Apprenticeship
and Training Committees (JATC) throughout the US and Canada. SMWIA and
SMACNA also co-sponsor the Sheet Metal Occupational Health Institute
Trust (SMOHIT), which creates, promotes, and disseminates comprehensive
safety and health educational and training programs designed to keep
the industry informed of the dangers and problems associated with hazardous
materials and work practices.
Union apprentices must complete four to five years of training in subjects
such as HVAC installation procedures; testing, adjusting, and balancing
of building environmental systems; computer aided drafting (CAD); and
servicing environmental systems. After successfully completing this
training, apprentices become sheet metal journeypersons. Journeypersons
are then offered continuing education, generally through the local JATC,
in topics such as test and balance, service work, welding, CAD operations,
indoor environmental quality, and energy management.
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University of Nevada at Las Vegas
UNLV is committed to the development of research programs as applied
to economic development and diversification, and as applied to social
needs. Energy efficiency is of critical importance in the extreme desert
environment, and proximity to US Department of Energy sites offers unique
opportunities for programs that push the envelope in solar, wind, hydrogen
and biomass technologies.
With programs in business, dental medicine, education, engineering,
fine arts, health sciences, hotel administration, law, liberal arts,
sciences and urban affairs, the university serves 24,000 students earning
baccalaureate, masters and doctoral degrees. In addition to the colleges
and schools listed, there are more than forty specialized research centers
and institutes that focus on particular issues and problems.
Energy efficient housing and indoor air quality are areas where UNLV
has built world-class expertise. Partly this emphasis has been driven
by the hotel/casino industry, where both of these themes are critically
important to cost reduction and the highest quality experience for guests.
Of the colleges and research centers and institutes noted above, several
units have expertise directly applicable to the creation of the National
Center for Energy Management and Building Technologies. These include
the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER), the Center for
Mechanical and Environmental Systems Technology (CMEST), the Center
for Energy Research (CER), and the Harry Reid Center (HRC) for Environmental
Studies.
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