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)

Report on Green Revolving Funds: Greening the Bottom Line 2012

A report by the Sustainable Endowments Institute shows strong growth of green revolving funds (GRFs) within the higher education sector. The 2012 report shows that 36 new GRFs have been created since 2010 with a median reported return on investment of 28 percent. Since 2010, GRFs have been launched in 31 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. (October 2012)

Autonomy and Innovation: Systemic Change in a Decentralized State

Autonomy and Innovation, by higher education and workforce development expert Tom Hilliard, describes Michigan’s participation in Achieving the Dream, detailing how college-level reform initiatives highlight the need and build momentum for collective, state-level action to foster collaboration, spread innovation, and make effective use of student outcome data. (November 2012)

EPA: Watershed Academy

Local watershed organizations, municipal leaders, and others are invited to sign up for these free, on-line webcast training sessions. These webcasts on can be used in the creation of curricula and archives are available in multiple categories.

K-12 Sustainability Resources Relevant to Community Colleges

The U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development has developed a rich set of resources, including sites with downloadable learning activities, a beginner’s toolkit for sustainability, standards for K-12, and more.

Biomimicry: 6 Hour Course for Educators

Learning from nature to create non-toxic technologies is a fascinating subject described in this 6-hour course for educators who want to teach their students about biomimicry and give them a good grounding in the subject. Whether someone is completely new to biomimicry or relatively familiar with the subject, this course will provide a solid foundation about what biomimicry is, why it is important, and broad pedagogical considerations about how to teach this subject to students.

NC Greenforce Conference – Community Colleges Focus on Preparing North Carolina’s Green Workforce

This sumary of a statewide conference demonstrates how colleges can work together to develop sustainability and green oriented education while working to grow the green economy workforce. (November 2011)

Partnership for Sustainable Communities

These resources can enhance community partnerships and project based learning (a core pedagogy of sustainability education) by expanding understanding of sustainable communities efforts. The Partnership for Sustainable Communities with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, EPA, and the U.S. Department of Transportation helps improve access to affordable housing, more transportation options, and lower transportation costs while protecting the environment in communities nationwide. Also view the Grants and Resources pages.

Planet Forward

Planet Forward is where experts and engaged citizens come together to find solutions to our shared challenges, specifically in the areas of energy, climate and sustainability. It is a dynamic public square, curating the best ideas and innovations from scientists, business leaders, advocates, students and government leaders and is based at the Center for Innovative Media at the George Washington University. Look at their Campus Sustainability Page and Education Page (see the quality media collaborators on the bottom).

Report (September 2012) - Public Support for Climate and Energy Policies

Read this report from the Yale Project on Climate Communication to review how the public supports climate and energy policies. This page also contains report highlights.

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More Resources

National Council for Advanced Manufacturing (NCAM) Sustainability Manufactuing Framework Model

An open source model for sustainable manufacturing. It is a step by step process to help manufacturers become more sustainable and includes an instruction manual, an open source mthodology and more.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Renewable Energies Resources for Students/Teachers

There are a variety of educational resources that can help you learn about the renewable energy sources and technologies, including biomass energy, geothermal energy, hydrogen energy, solar energy and wind energy.

National Wildlife Federation (NWF) Campus Ecology Program

Since its founding in 1989, Campus Ecology has become a leading conservation program in higher education. The program is helping to: 1. Transform the nation's college campuses into living models of an ecologically sustainable society; 2. Train a new generation of environmental leaders; 3. Ensure a strong future for America's environmental movement; and, 4. Support and promote positive and practical conservation projects on campus and beyond.

National Wildlife Federation: Campus Ecology Webinar Resource

Webinars to help bring green and sustainability onto the campus and into the community on a variety of topics.

New Energy Cities: Pioneering the Clean Energy Economiy of the Northwest

The New Energy Cities program is catalyzing pioneering communities to take charge of their energy future and drive investment toward a clean, renewable, super-efficient energy system that generates significant local economic development. This is done through workshops, community engagement, guidance reports, and many other programs.

Northwest Earth Institute (NWEI) Discussion Course Study Guides

The Northwest Earth Institute (NWEI) is a leader in the development of innovative programs that empower individuals and organizations to transform culture toward a sustainable and enriching future. NWEI has developed cost effective, ready-to-implement, high quality curricula that have been utilized by over 150 colleges and universities around the country. NWEI programs encourage participants to explore their values, attitudes and actions through discussion with other people. Each guide contains a series of articles, book excerpts and discussion questions for the group to follow. Numerous studies suggest that growth in life-long learning is facilitated by instruction that includes opportunities for reflection, active learning, and positive interaction with diverse peers. Given this knowledge, we have worked with higher education institutions to provide content and a unique process to support groups of students, faculty and staff in their sustainability initiatives. To learn more about how NWEI courses have been utilized on campuses, visit: www.bit.ly/sustainablecampus.

NWEI’s nine discussion guides currently include: Menu for the Future, Voluntary Simplicity, Sustainable Systems at Work, Choices for Sustainable Living, A World of Health: Connecting People, Place and Planet, Global Warming: Changing CO2urse, Discovering a Sense of Place, Healthy Children Healthy Planet, and Reconnecting with Earth.

O*NET Resource Center Identification of Green Economic Sectors, Green Increased Demand Occupations, Green Enhanced Skills Occupations, and Green new and Emerging (N&E) Occupations

Green Increased Demand Occupations, Green Enhanced Skills Occupations, and Green New and Emerging (N&E) Occupations as listed and described by O*NET, under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA). This list is not necessarily complete but useful.

Ohio Green Pathways: A Resource for People Seeking Education and Training in Green Careers in Ohio

In July 2009, Ohio Green Pathways was launched as a collaboration of the University System of Ohio and the Ohio Environmental Council. Ohio Green Pathways links education and training opportunities available in the University System of Ohio with jobs in green industries across our state.

Online Book: The Road Half Traveled: University Engagement at a Crossroads Rita Axelroth and Steve Dubb

This report is the Democracy Collaborative's most in-depth study of how universities can embrace their role as anchors to build community wealth.

Open Energy Information initiative (OpenEI)

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has supported the development of the Open Energy Information initiative (OpenEI), which is a platform to connect the world’s energy data. It is a linked open data platform bringing together energy information to provide improved analyses, unique visualizations, and real-time access to data.

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