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

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Green Jobs Initiative

This site includes a collection of data on green jobs, the BLS green jobs definition, a link to career information for selected green jobs, and other information. This efforts is not fully comprehensive but is useful.

Wind Jobs and Economic Development Impact (JEDI) Models

The Jobs and Economic Development Impact (JEDI) models, developed by Wind Powering America, are user-friendly tools that estimate the economic impacts of constructing and operating new power plants from fossil fuels or renewable energies at the local and state levels.

American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) Publications

Review these resources for AWEA Wind Energy Fact Sheets which provide up-to-date information on many aspects of the wind industry. You will also find Wind Energy Reports which include quarterly and annual U.S. wind industry market reports and reports that AWEA has authored or contributed to on a variety of other topics.

More Resources

Advanced Technology Environmental and Energy Center (ATEEC)

The Advanced Technology Environmental and Energy Center (ATEEC) has free materials in energy efficiency, renewable energies, and other environmental topics. In addition to curricula and instructional materials, it includes occupational analyses and workforce analyses and trends.

American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Green Economy Webinar

Webinar focuses on 1) different types of green jobs; 2) professional development, certification, and curricular material for teachers at both the high school and community college levels in the green jobs area; and, 3) partnership models between businesses, government, and educators to crate more effective entry, re-entry and professional development for workers in the emerging green economy.

Article - Top 10 Reasons Why Green Jobs Are Vital to Our Economy

This September, 2011 article written by the Center for American Progress states how green jobs are integral to any effort to jumpstart the US economy and reduce as rapidly as possible the 9.1 percent unemployment rate. It states that the rapid growth of green jobs will boost demand in the economy by reducing unemployment, making America more competitive in the global economy, and protect our public health—all of which will result in greater economic productivity and long-term economic prosperity.

A Woman's Guide to Green Jobs: Why is Green Good for Women? Fact Sheet

This publication is designed to aid in increasing women’s access to high-growth and emerging industry occupations in the green jobs sector nationwide. It will provide women workers and workforce professionals with information on hiring needs and challenges, training and entrepreneurship opportunities, and in-demand and emerging jobs in green industries. National, state and local resources, including women’s organizations and workforce practitioners, will be included in the curriculum. Available Fall 2010.

Bureau of Labor Statistics: Careers in Wind Energy

This resource provides an overview of the wind energy sector in the nation and on occupations in the wind power industry.

California Employment Development Department Labor Market Info (LMI) - California’s Green Economy

The green technology sector has shown the potential to create more manufacturing jobs, and more opportunities at every income and education level, than any other industry in California. The Assembly Select Committee on California’s Green Economy was formed to assist state and local governments in shaping policies that will remove barriers and encourage investment and job creation to grow this emerging sector. This includes numerous interrelated fields such as renewable energy sources supplanting fossil fuel use, clean technologies, water conservation and efficiency, alternative transportation, vehicle electrification, renewable fuels, waste management, green buildings, and critical workforce development.

CareerOneStop - Competency Model Clearinghouse

A clearinghouse of competency model frameworks. Includes high-growth industries such as Energy Generation, Transmission, and Distribution and Advanced Manufacturing (including green manufacturing principles). Developed through a collaborative effort involving the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and various industry organizations.

Occupational Outlooks from Bureau of Labor Statistics

This site, when searched with the keyword 'green', provides a variety of information on some of the types of jobs that can be considered green or requiring green knowledge.

Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC)

The Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC) develops and leads successful strategic environmental advocacy campaigns to improve environmental quality and protect natural heritage. It is the Midwest’s leading public interest environmental legal advocacy and eco-business innovation organization and provides a wealth of publications and presentations on topics relating to sustainability policy, studies, and practices in the Midwest region.

Greening of the World of Work: O*NET(r) Project's Book of References

This report summarizes the recent research to investigate the impact of green economy activities and technologies on occupational requirements in an effort to determine their impact on current O*NET-SOC occupations and to identify new and emerging (N&E) occupations that may be considered as potential candidates for inclusion in the O*NET-SOC system.

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