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 >>

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Featured Resources

Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) Certifications for Energy Manager and Energy Auditor

Since 1981 AEE has certified over 15,000 professionals, enabling them to receive special recognition for their expertise in a variety of specialized areas of the energy, power, green facilities, industry. AEE's certification programs are recognized by such government agencies as the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Agency for International Development, as well as by Fortune 1000 corporations, utilities and energy service companies.

Sustainable Building Advisor Institute (SBAi) 9-month Certification Program

The Sustainable Building Advisor (SBA) Program is offered over the course of nine months, with two full days of class each month. Upon completion of the SBA Program and CSBA Exam, students will earn the designation of Certified Sustainable Building Advisor (CSBA). Local SBA Providers are encouraged to augment the national curriculum with a regional perspective.

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Residential Retrofit Guidelines

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has tasked the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with developing a suite of voluntary national guidelines for the work and workforce involved in residential energy efficiency retrofits. These guidelines will be built into a set of national certification and curricula within the next year.

Updated Retrofit Installer Technician Job Task Analysis

Released in April, 2012 by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and with input from many educational and industry experts, this report can help educators cover all aspects of the job tasks related to this career position.

More Resources

Energy Education & Workforce Development (DOE: EERE)

The Energy Education & Workforce Development website, brought to you by the Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy resource, provides you with clean energy literacy and career information, teaching materials, and information on programs and other topics. Also view the Teach page for many creative lesson plans, labs and projects.

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.

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.

Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) Certifications for Energy Manager and Energy Auditor

Building Performance Institute (BPI) Accreditation for Contractors in Home Performance and Weatherization

BPI Accreditation is a standards-based home performance program that helps you differentiate your business from the competition. By ensuring certified staff, quality management, and the delivery of consistent, high-quality services on every project, BPI Accreditation helps businesses raise the bar in home performance contracting. Accreditation is voluntary, but it requires a true commitment to approach each project from a house-as-a-system perspective and to meet nationally-recognized BPI standards.

Building Performance Institute (BPI) Affiliate Policies and Procedures

This site provides BPI policies and procedures which indicate the kinds of equipment and educators required for BPI-recognized training, and requirements that must be met for proctoring BPI written and field examinations for BPI certifications.

Building Performance Institute (BPI) Certification for Professionals in Home Performance and Weatherization

A nationally recognized credentialing program identifying individual excellence in house-as-a-system evaluation, diagnostics and installation.

Connecting High-Poverty Areas with Green Jobs: Creative Partnerships with Access Points

Designed for workforce systems with existing SHARE Network Access Points but open to all, this Webinar (formerly "Access Point and The New Economy") shares promising practices from areas that are using faith-based and neighborhood partners to help fulfill the needs of the Recovery Act and the new “green jobs” economy. The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration has announced its initial plans for awarding “green job training” funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Training and Employment Notice 44-08 summarizes these plans. Must sign up with Workforce3One.org to access website.

Green Pathways Out of Poverty: Workforce Development Initiatives

This document is a product of that two-day meeting and links to resources recommended by Community of Practice members. It is meant to guide and support anyone seeking to create pathways out of poverty through green job training. Must sign up with Workforce3One.org to access website.

Institute for Sustainable Power Quality (ISPQ) Accreditation of Training Programs

To ensure continuity, consistency, and quality in the delivery of training, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) is implementing the Institute for Sustainable Power Quality (ISPQ) framework of standards and metrics to provide a means to compare content, quality, and resources across a broad range of training programs covering renewable energy, energy efficiency and distributed generation technologies. This international framework ensures legitimacy of what’s being taught and by whom.

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