Supporting community colleges in educating for and building a green economy
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Resource Center

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Educational resources from SEED Center partners and corporate sponsors
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Resource Center

Instructions

The Resource Center is a curated collection of information organized around 7 green economy “Sectors” and 7 “Topics.” In time, more Sectors will be added. Topics represent those areas in which educators and workforce development professionals continue to seek direction.

You can search by sector or by topic. Or across all sectors and/or all topics.

You can also perform a keyword search of all resources on the top right of this page.

Overview

Solar

The solar industry is expected to show steady growth over the coming decade largely due to rising energy prices, advances in technology through public/private partnerships and investments, and continued enactment of federal and state policies and financial incentives. more >>

Wind

Wind power is considered a leading source of new electricity generation in the United States, with the potential of providing 20% of the nation’s energy needs by 2030. more >>

Green Building

The green building market has expanded five fold over the last three years to a $48 billion national market—and is projected to triple in the next five years. more >>

Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency is considered the foundation of a vibrant and sustainable green economy, and one of the most cost effective ways to lower energy consumption, reduce operating costs, and mitigate carbon emissions. more >>

Sustainability Education

Sustainability education refers generally to learning experiences that enable students to develop the knowledge, behaviors and skills to help create healthier ecosystems, social systems, and economies. For the purposes of the SEED Center, this includes resources to help build non-credit continuing education for the incumbent workforce and integrating sustainability curriculum into existing credit programs. more >>

Sustainable Ag., Food & Land

The Sustainable Ag., Food & Land sector covers the areas of organic farming, horticulture, culinary art, and landscaping. This sector includes organizations and resources that integrate environmental, social and economic factors into land use, food preparation, and land specific practices in an attempt to create a more sustainable future. more >>

General Clean Tech

The General Clean Tech sector is a space for resources that encompass multiple ‘green’ sectors. Many are applicable to the broader clean economy and sustainability-related technology and will serve the general clean tech community. Resources also provide valuable information on sectors that are experiencing substantive development in the sustainability realm, like manufacturing and smart grid. more >>

Transportation and Fuels

The Transportation & Fuels sector covers the area of electric and hybrid vehicle development and maintenance, other forms of alternative and sustainable transportation, natural gas, fuel cells, battery storage, and renewable fuels sources including ethanol, biodiesel, algae, and methane. more >>

Certifications and Industry Credentials

Certainly, one of the biggest challenges facing green educators is the rapid and mostly uncoordinated emergence of green certifications and credentials. more >>
 

Curricular Materials

These resources and materials have been vetted by industry and education experts, and while not in the form of specific educator tools, will assist in creating quality curricula for your classroom. more >>

You will find more specific educator tools (e.g. syllabi, lab manuals, lesson plans, special classroom projects, equipment lists, etc.) submitted by SEED member colleges in our Curricular Materials Sharing Portal.

Employment Industry Projections

While job training providers have been quite active in past years working with local industry to define the emerging green jobs market and potential job growth areas, most still struggle to forecast accurately regional occupational demand. The U.S. Department of Labor has made recent strides toward classifying green occupations and competencies which will help communities define and track green jobs (and colleges to design appropriate education and training programs). Given the uncertain renewable energy and efficiency industry outlook, and rapidly changing technologies, access to the most up-to-date industry studies and employment projections will be critical. more >>

Innovative Practices & Partnerships

The job creation potential of the green economy has led to some unique job training and economic development partnerships and collaborations. more >>

Professional Development Resources

This section includes promising facilitated learning opportunities, including “train the trainer” programs, standing conferences, and informal learning opportunities situated in practice for faculty and staff seeking to further their knowledge of industry trends and requirements. more >>

Policy & Funding Sources

Included you will find links and descriptions of agencies and organizations that typically fund sustainability and green job training initiatives as well as those that provide important information on national legislation and policies relevant to the clean energy sector. CHECK BACK AS MORE ARE ADDED. This section also highlights resources that provide guidance on how to supply input into program and grant design for certain agency solicitations. more >>

Skill sets, Competencies & Career Pathways

This section includes lists and assessments of skill sets and competencies tied to the green economy – across the broad industry as well as within specific sectors. It also includes some critical resources that colleges can use to align programs and facilitate student transitions. Included are green energy competency models and newly-developed career pathways that allow movement across educational and training programs. more >>

Sector: Topic:

Featured Resources

ACORE's Renewable Energy in the 50 States
American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) Renewable Energy in the 50 States report provides an executive summary on the status of renewable energy implementation at the state-level. The report is a "living" document that will continue to evolve with updates and periodic revision. (November 2012)
Building Science Corporation
Resources on this page provide objective, high-quality information to promote the design and construction of durable, energy-efficient and economical buildings that can prove useful in the development of your green building courses.
County Strategies for Successfully Managing and Promoting Wind Power: Implementing Wind Ordinances in America's Counties
The Distributed Wind Energy Association (DWEA) and the National Association of Counties (NACO) published this report which provides an overview of wind ordinances, best practices that work for local communities and the wind industry, case studies of counties implementing wind ordinances, and additional resources.
Frontiers of Energy Efficiency: Next Generation Programs Reach for High Energy Savings
This report examines 22 program types and concepts to identify trends in their approaches to capturing cost-effective energy efficiency opportunities. It provides numerous examples of innovative programs. (January 2013)
Green Building: Principles and Practices in Residential Construction, 1st Edition
This textbook is for those educating on Green Building and provides information on all aspects of building technologies. From core concepts to innovative applications of cutting-edge technology and the latest industry trends, this text offers an in-depth introduction to the construction of "green" homes.
Green Jobs: A Resource Guide for Individuals with Disabilities
Details the major employment and training opportunities and job skills associated with emerging "green" occupations, and provides links to related Internet resources. The Guide is targeted to workforce development practitioners and jobseekers with disabilities interested in training and careers in the green industry.
Guide to Sustainable Transportation Performance Measures
This guidebook describes opportunities for transportation agencies to incorporate environmental, economic, and social sustainability into decision-making through the use of performance measures. Share this resource with your city officials and other policy makers.
ICLEI's 2013 Tools for Local Governments and Colleges Collaborating with Cities
Watch this ICLEI's webinar, "ICLEI's Vision to Support Resilient Cities and Counties" and read full details on the exciting software tools, resources, and leadership initiatives ICLEI will offer in 2013 to help local government members and their partners create safer, more prepared, and more resilient communities.
National Training and Education Resource (NTER) Platform - DOE
The SEED Center wants to help its members best utilize a new open source clean tech learning technology tool developed by the U.S. Department of Energy. It was designed to revolutionize how online training and education is created, shared, and delivered. NTER offers an easy to use and free distributed repository and specialized search engine just for education and training. SEED would like to help you in determining the best way to integrate this platform into the creation and management of your green-skilled education programs.

Each organization that participates in NTER gains access to a global network of resources and expands the learning community. Along with enabling collaboration, NTER allows authors to reuse existing content which further reduces the cost to institutions developing new materials. Together, these features enable instructors to share, reuse and remix existing works so that students can benefit from rich and immersive educational experiences. Read more here.

Contact us today to discuss how NTER can best serve you in the delivery of high quality green training programs. Also view the webcast recording of the DOE Webinar on NTER from 12/6/12 and read more on this tool at the SEED Center.
Report - Energy Efficiency Resource Acquisition Program Models in North America
This report provides an explanation of different types of institutional delivery models currently in place across the United States and Canada to acquire energy efficiency as a predictable and reliable resource for meeting existing and future energy demands. This examination and comparison of eight different models yields a new understanding of the benefits and weaknesses states and provinces accepted when making choices during the development of these programs. Although the report focuses on programs targeting the industrial sector, the lessons learned are not specific to one sector or geographic region.
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More Resources

ACORE's Renewable Energy in the 50 States
American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) Renewable Energy in the 50 States report provides an executive summary on the status of renewable energy implementation at the state-level. The report is a "living" document that will continue to evolve with updates and periodic revision. (November 2012)
Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis
The mission of this institute is to ensure access to healthy food and to promote the vitality of agriculture. They do this through integrative research, education, communication and early action on big, emerging issues.
Building Science Corporation
Resources on this page provide objective, high-quality information to promote the design and construction of durable, energy-efficient and economical buildings that can prove useful in the development of your green building courses.
County Strategies for Successfully Managing and Promoting Wind Power: Implementing Wind Ordinances in America's Counties
The Distributed Wind Energy Association (DWEA) and the National Association of Counties (NACO) published this report which provides an overview of wind ordinances, best practices that work for local communities and the wind industry, case studies of counties implementing wind ordinances, and additional resources.
EPA's Smart Growth Program
Learn about smart growth issues and environmental benefits. Find information about specific topics, resources, and examples of smart growth development, including the National Award for Smart Growth Achievement. Through research, tools, partnerships, case studies, grants, and technical assistance, EPA is helping America's communities turn their visions of the future into reality.
Free Energy Database (FRED)
Developed by the Energy Department, its Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Planetary Skin Institute, the new open energy platform allows users to visualize, monitor and customize their energy data, and is an intersting tool to integrate into your energy curriculum.
Frontiers of Energy Efficiency: Next Generation Programs Reach for High Energy Savings
This report examines 22 program types and concepts to identify trends in their approaches to capturing cost-effective energy efficiency opportunities. It provides numerous examples of innovative programs. (January 2013)
Green Building: Principles and Practices in Residential Construction, 1st Edition
This textbook is for those educating on Green Building and provides information on all aspects of building technologies. From core concepts to innovative applications of cutting-edge technology and the latest industry trends, this text offers an in-depth introduction to the construction of "green" homes.
Green Jobs: A Resource Guide for Individuals with Disabilities
Details the major employment and training opportunities and job skills associated with emerging "green" occupations, and provides links to related Internet resources. The Guide is targeted to workforce development practitioners and jobseekers with disabilities interested in training and careers in the green industry.
Green Ways: A Jobs for the Future Initiative
The GreenWays initiative provides high-quality workforce services to employers and to workers seeking to advance their careers in the green economy.
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This resource made possible with the generous support from the Kresge Foundation