Green construction and solar installation for both photovoltaic and hot water needs are “hot” commodities in today’s workforce. Funded by the Department of Labor, YouthBuild programs across the country are training young people as entry-level solar installers, ready for registered apprenticeships or full-time work.

The McLean County YouthBuild in Bloomington, Illinois has engaged in green building techniques for several years, earning LEED and Energy Star status for the homes it builds for local low-income families. Last year, Chief Operating Officer and LEED certified construction director Brian Fitzgerald launched a new initiative – adding solar water heating units to each of six new homes under construction.

“We installed the solar hot water systems on six homes,” said Fitzgerald. “It was a great experience.” Working with professional plumbers and solar installers, YouthBuild students helped install, pipe and wire the systems, composed of two flat panel closed-loop glycol systems.

Students learned alongside the professionals, due to the relatively new technology. “Plumbers know plumbing, but not solar. And the solar installer didn’t know plumbing – so we all figured it out,” said Fitzgerald.

Bloomington families moved in this month, and have just started using the utilities. “We’ll measure for a while to determine the energy savings,” said Fitzgerald. For an estimated cost of $8,000 - $9,000 per house, the systems will provide all hot water needs.

“In the next generation,” promised Fitzgerald, “we’ll use the solar hot water to help heat the whole house through radiant floor heating, or pre-heating forced air systems.” McLean County YouthBuild plans to build another six houses using solar water heating beginning this fall. (http://www.youthbuildmcleancounty.org/joomla15/)

RichmondWORKS YouthBuild in Richmond CA has been training its students in solar photovoltaic installation and electrical skills for several years, meeting the need for solar electricity in the booming California market. Executive Director Sal Vaca described a strong partnership with local trades unions, the city, a solar manufacturing firm and community groups to identify homes for solar installations, train students, and secure solar panel supplies for low-income homes.

After completing basic construction skills training, YouthBuild students engage in another 10 weeks of construction apprenticeship and solar installation concentrated training, capped by two days of “lab” installation and two days of live panel installation. The experience has lead to several dozen students getting jobs in local solar companies upon graduation, with more on the job training and average wages of $18.33 per hour. (http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/index.aspx?NID=1243)

The next phase for RichmondWORKS is to incorporate several more weeks of advanced training for students who wish to earn the NAPCEP entry level solar installer certification.
Many other YouthBuilds are offering solar training experiences to their students. Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, youth attending ARCH in Washington, DC designed and assembled “solar backpacks” – small, solar cell covered daypacks capable of charging 6-12 Volt batteries. The young people donated the backpacks to Haitian medical and education organizations for use in providing emergency power. (http://www.archdc.org/vocational.html)

Many other programs, including Casa Verde Builders of AmericanYouthWORKS in Austin, TX, combine Energy Star home efficiency with solar photovoltaic systems to deliver nearly net-zero energy costs to low-income families in their communities. (http://www.americanyouthworks.org/green-jobs-programs/casa-verde-builders)

These cutting edge green training programs are building a strong young workforce steeped in environmental awareness and high-demand skills.

RichmondWORKS YouthBuild students learn solar installation in the training lab during a 10-week additional solar/electrical course.

RichmondWORKS students complete a live installation to serve a low-income family in their community. Many California companies need residential solar installers.

The Community of Practice will be looking at the Solar Energy Industry over the next few weeks. The first installment of this series is a brief scan of the solar industry, federal policies and programs, and key organizations.

Green Profile: Solar Energy Industry

Dr. Jonathan Butler is Senior Market Analyst, Asia specializing in market developments in the Asia Pacific region, with an emphasis on portable applications of fuel cells. His current focus includes supply chain developments, legislation, policy and intellectual property (IP) aspects of fuel cell technology, particularly patent and patent opposition analysis, and their commercial implications. He is also interested in the development of fuel cells in the Middle East.

As well as being clean and efficient sources of energy, fuel cells also represent a substantial opportunity for job and wealth creation, particularly in manufacturing of fuel cells and in installing, maintaining and servicing the units. In an increasingly uncertain economic climate, fuel cells may offer both economic stimulus and job creation.

In Europe and North America, there has been a great deal of political focus in recent years on job creation to stimulate economic growth and also to compensate for those being lost in declining industries, especially in regions severely hit by the recent recession. This echoes the ‘New Deal’ policies in the USA in the 1930s when huge public works programs were undertaken to create employment in the Depression. The 21st century versions of these policies are firmly aimed at creating jobs in potentially high-growth areas of the economy. Legislation such as the US Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act 2008 specifically emphasises the creation of ‘green collar’ jobs – manufacturing jobs focused on new, clean technologies. Similarly, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) 2009 has also provided a conduit for job creation, with billions of dollars being invested in the energy sector.

Fuel Cell Today has recently conducted analysis of job creation in the fuel cell industry over the next decade. According to our calculations, around 700,000 jobs could be created in fuel cell manufacturing over the next ten years, with over a million jobs in total when manufacturing and servicing is also included. Most of the jobs are expected to be created in manufacturing fuel cells for stationary applications (for example combined heat and power for buildings) with a heavy concentration of installation and maintenance jobs in regions where fuel cells are adopted, such as the United States. Manufacturing of fuel cells will largely take place in Asia, Europe and North America, although certain other regions with attractive government incentives, including South Africa and the Middle East, may also become important regions for fuel cell manufacturing.

When we compare fuel cell job creation with job creation in related clean energy sectors such as wind and solar, we see that fuel cells have the potential to create around 150,000 jobs per year by 2020, a similar number to the annual rate of job creation in the solar and wind energy sectors today. In other words, the fuel cell industry could be the next ‘green growth’ industry, facilitating green collar jobs, economic growth and contributing to energy security.

Our forecasts are based on a business as usual scenario, with assumptions on productivity improvements and expansion of fuel cell manufacturing built into our model. However, our model assumes that the appropriate levels of skills and training will be available to the fuel cell workforce – this is something that governments and industry need to invest in now to achieve these green collar jobs.

To see for yourself the job creation potential of the fuel cell industry, please visit our online job creation tool. This allows you to model job creation in the fuel cell industry in any one of the next ten years, broken down by application. Simply input shipment data! The Fuel Cell Today’s job creation tool is available from www.fuelcelltoday.com

For more information on fuel cells, please see our education kit:

http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/reference/education-kits

Montana Green-Ready Workforce Competency Model

An American Recovery Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Energy Training Partnership grant recipient, Montana Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee, is using its grant to targets current craft workers in need of skill upgrades to obtain or retain employment and unemployed workers seeking to enter targeted industries will receive training required for electricians, electrical line workers, carpenters, millwrights, laborers, weatherization technicians, iron workers (welders), HVAC technicians, power plant technicians, plumbers/pipefitters, and heavy equipment operators.

Grantee:  Montana Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee

Location of Grant Activities:  State of Montana

Grant Award:  $5,000,000

Project Description:  Approximately 2,450 participants will complete green competency model training plans and receive a certificate that corresponds to their training as pre-apprentices, apprentices, and journeymen workers in Montana’s current and emerging energy efficiency and renewable energy industries.

Targeted Industry:  Energy-Efficient Building Construction and Renewable Electric Power
Targeted Population:  Unemployed workers

Success Story:  As of the end of the first quarter, the project partners have served just over 400 apprentices and approximately 400 journeymen in their respective trades across the state of Montana to meet target population goals. The partners have participated in two outreach events to advertise training opportunities, recruit apprentices to their specific crafts, and outreach to historically underserved populations, including women and minorities. Currently, of the enrolled apprentices 2 percent are women, 7 percent represent minority groups and 9 percent are veterans.

According to the grantee, the success of the grant project to date was the ability to submit a grant proposal that included ten different Joint Apprenticeship & Training Councils (JATCs) from across the state. This coupled with the coordinated training underway and to be implemented is a great success for apprenticeship and training in the State of Montana and will most likely result in a continued cooperation amongst the trades involved.

Dr. Jonathan Butler is Senior Market Analyst, Asia specializing in market developments in the Asia Pacific region, with an emphasis on portable applications of fuel cells. His current focus includes supply chain developments, legislation, policy and intellectual property (IP) aspects of fuel cell technology, particularly patent and patent opposition analysis, and their commercial implications. He is also interested in the development of fuel cells in the Middle East.

This is the first in a series of posts about fuel cell technology and jobs. Please stay tuned to the Green Jobs CoP over the next few weeks to learn more.

A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that combines oxygen (air) and a fuel (e.g. hydrogen) to form water. This process generates electricity and heat. There are several different types of fuel cell but they are all based around this central design. The essential design of a fuel cell dates back around 160 years, but commercial activity in fuel cells has rapidly increased recently.

The electricity produced by a fuel cell can essentially be used to power any electrical device, from electric cars and buses to laptops and mobile phones. The heat produced can also be used to provide combined heat and power for buildings, or used to generate cooling for buildings via an adsorption chiller.

The key benefits of a fuel cell include high electrical and thermal efficiency, low to zero emissions at point of use, and low noise. Fuel cells are now commercial in a range of applications and markets where low noise, low pollution, and high efficiency operation is valued. These are broadly split into three main application areas, and include:

Portable (any unit designed to be moved)

• Battery chargers for consumer electronic devices;
• Charging units for power tools.

Stationary (any unit designed to be fixed)

• Combined heat and power for residential homes, offices and commercial premises;
• Uninterruptible power for telecoms sites and datacentres.

Transport (any unit designed to go in a vehicle)

• Power units for RVs, yachts and trucks;
• Warehouse materials handling vehicles.

Longer term, fuel cell vehicles represent one of the biggest markets, and most major auto companies are developing fuel cells alongside electric vehicle technology. Consumer electronics are also a huge future market, particularly smart phones, laptop computers and i-pad type devices. Fuel Cell Today’s analyses suggest that several million fuel cells could be adopted in various applications globally over the next decade.

Six months ago the Employment & Training Administration (ETA) rolled out the Green Jobs Community of Practice (CoP), and in that time (despite snowmageddon and now searing heat) it has grown to a community of nearly 2,600 members. Many of whom regularly check out the community; view the available resources – including information on industries and occupations, education and training models, and the Recovery Act of 2009.  This on-line virtual community was designed to provide a platform for Workforce Professionals and green job thought leaders to discuss and share promising practices to create partnerships for Green Job Workforce Solutions and leverage Recovery Act investments.  The Green Jobs CoP is unique in that it provides an interactive platform and information that is explicitly targeted to Workforce Professionals, particularly those at the State and Workforce Investment Board levels, and their role in building a green economy. 

As we lay the foundation now and build a green economy for the future, and in order for the Green Jobs CoP to truly succeed and realize its full potential – we need to hear from you, whether it be as comments on the postings and resources, blogs, or an e-mail to green.jobs@dol.gov that tells us how we are doing (good and bad), provides suggestions for future topics or bloggers, or lets us know how to better meet your green jobs needs.

Thank you for your support and making the Green Jobs CoP the largest ETA community of its kind.  Now let’s here from you!!!

Charles Cox and Aparna Darisipudi
Green Jobs CoP Managers

The Green Jobs Community of Practice is focusing on youth. The Department of Labor supports several distinct programs for young people, with different goals and criteria. The Obama Administration and Labor Secretary Solis have encouraged youth programs to focus on green skills development. One of the most advanced “green jobs” youth-centric programs, with some of the earliest direct training in green skills, is YouthBuild.

YouthBuild is a youth and community development program that simultaneously addresses core issues facing low-income communities: housing, education, employment, crime prevention, and leadership development. In YouthBuild programs, low-income young people ages 16-24 work toward their GEDs or high school diplomas, receive training and earn credentials in construction skills and serve their communities by building affordable housing. By engaging in YouthBuild, many young people are able to transform their lives and build a new future.

There are now over 200 YouthBuild programs in 45 states, Washington, DC, and the Virgin Islands. Since 1994, 92,000 YouthBuild students have built 19,000 units of affordable, increasingly green housing.

A future blog entitled: “The Greening of YouthBuild” will describe the Three “C”s of YouthBuild’s successful green practice – construction, classroom, and career – and how green principles both inspire and prepare youth for leadership in a sustainable economy.

The Learning Training Earning = GREEN Project

An American Recovery Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Green Capacity Building grant recipient, Arizona Women’s Education and Employment, Inc. (AWEE), is using its grant to develop curriculum for Green Industry Career Exploration workshops designed to recruit and orient job seekers to training and employment preparation activities for targeted occupations.  AWEE is also developing curriculum for its “Green Connect” Job Club, a motivational networking and job search program component designed to bridge training and employment in green career pathways.

Grantee:  Arizona Women’s Education and Employment, Inc. (AWEE)
Location of Grant Activities:  Phoenix, Arizona
Grant Award:  $100,000
Project Description:  Arizona Women’s Education and Employment, Inc. (AWEE) is building capacity to launch the Learning Training Earning = GREEN (L T E=GREEN) Project designed to teach workers the skills required in green industry employment.  AWEE will integrate new curriculum, staff training, equipment, and vocational training services to prepare eligible adult ex-offenders for employment in one of three targeted occupations.  Specifically, the project will develop and launch career exploration workshops that will expose participants to training and employment opportunities in green industries; link participants with vocational training offered by area colleges and other entities to facilitate their entry into green career pathways; and facilitate job placement in training-related employment through business/industry-involved job clubs.  The project’s targeted occupations include solar installer; heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC/R) installer/ technician; and weatherization technician/energy auditor.

Targeted Industry:  Renewable energy and green building

Targeted Occupations:  Solar Installer; Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVAC/R) Installer/ Technician; Weatherization Technician/Energy Auditor

Targeted Population:  Adult ex-offenders

Success Story:  Gilbert is a 44 year old Hispanic male who spent 2.5 years in prison for a drug charge. Gilbert is a plumber by trade and he struggled with the fact that he might not be able to become a plumber again. Gilbert has six children that live with him and his wife. He was fearful he wouldn't be able to feed his family.

Gilbert enrolled in the “Paths to Living Free” program in October 2009.  Gilbert attended several classes at AWEE to get him ‘work ready’ such as, Resume Development, Kick-start (to improve his self-esteem) and Job Club (to learn about current job leads).  At Job Club he found out about the Green Capacity Building Grant AWEE had received. He attended one of the first “Green Information Sessions.”  After attending the Green Information session, Gilbert saw an opportunity for a new career in HVAC.  As a result he researched his options and found funding to support his training in HVAC.  Since completing the course work and passing the certification exam, he now has a job with A-1 Restaurant Service making $12.00/hour.  AWEE as part of its commitment to Gilbert and supporting his efforts to build a new life paid for his plumbing tools and half of his tuition to go to school to train on using heavy plumbing equipment for his job.  AWEE also supported Gilbert through food boxes and transportation assistance.

Gilbert is doing well today; he is more self-sufficient and is now providing for his family.
 
Click here to learn about the Green Capacity Building Grants.

The Community of Practice will be looking at the Youth population over the next few weeks. The first installment of this series is a brief scan of green jobs and the Youth population, federal policies and programs, and key organizations. Upcoming posts will feature YouthBuild and Summer Youth Employment. This is a brief scan of youth and green jobs.

Green Profile: Youth

Tim Aldinger is the Special Assistant for Professional and Project Development for the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB). In this role, he develops and coordinates green economy initiatives for the organization’s membership.

"No green," stated a member of a local workforce investment board, "I just don't believe in it."  Despite my responsibility as a program manager who assists others in their green development efforts, I didn't really have a good response. Why wouldn't someone believe in green?

One reason is that the workforce system, politicians, economists and most everyone else does a bad job of understanding and explaining "green jobs."

One option is to move away from the green/not green framing and move towards "shades of green."  At the National Association of Workforce Board's recent Forum, Forum 2010 - Preparing a Competitive U.S. Workforce - Reflection, Reinvestment, Recovery, several workshops and presentations on green reinforced the need for this reframing.

For example, a panelist from Indiana described how his area was working with coal companies to find more environmentally friendly ways to produce the coal. 

In the binary view of green this is an oxymoron, as coal production has often had significant negative ecological impacts. However, the southwest Indiana workforce professionals would be hard pressed to ignore the significant role that coal plays in their labor market. This topic of conversation also arose in a pre-conference session on green.

Presenters from GSP Consulting in Pittsburgh described their approach to helping regions and states take a multi-input approach to green job development that includes labor market analysis, current economic base as well as market demand for green products.  This approach underscores the need for looking at shades of green; as the multiple variables muddle a black and white (and green) picture of what green job you need.

While the "greenness" of a solar panel installer or energy efficiency contractor is easily grasped, what about an administrative assistant, or a computer programmer?  It is in this grey area of green that we can add value to our planning processes and help job-seekers become more competitive in the market.

While renewables and energy efficiency are great growth areas, the tougher question we must ask is: How can we support a workforce that makes existing industry clusters and occupations greener?

If we focus our attention on that question we will help develop workers who find efficient, clean and low-impact ways to meet the needs of clients and customers. And even someone who doesn't believe in green can support that kind of workforce development.

I’d like to pose this question to the readers: How can you green the job you have, or bring green thinking to the job you want?