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

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)

Climate, Adaptation, Mitigation, E-Learning (CAMEL)

Climate, Adaptation, Mitigation, E-Learning (CAMEL) is a free, comprehensive, interdisciplinary, multi-media resource for educators to enable them to effectively teach about climate change and allowing them to create and share curricular resources. View their Intro VIdeo for more information.

Events & Webinars: Green Jobs and the EPA

The EPA Green Power Partnership hosts webinars on a regular basis that explore a variety of topics, including the Green Power Partnership, green power technologies and products, and information on procuring green power. This particular presentation on Youth & Green Jobs (February 2012) provides an overview of EPA’s views regarding green jobs, their green initiative resources related to waste, water and more topics, examples of how to engage youth and links to more information.

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.

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.

Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Resources

AASHE offers numerous resources on sustainability in higher education, from strategic planning for sustainability to curricula, student life, operations and purchasing, community partnerships and more. See the free bulletin and the searchable resource center and digest and review the assessment system called STARS.

Resources for Teaching Sustainability Within All Courses

Discover information on how to teach sustainability in a wide variety of academic discipines, including Biology, Business,Chemistry,Design, Engineering, Environmental Science, Humanities, Mathematics, Psychology, Religion, Sociology and others. Also access interdisciplinary approaches, sustainability learning outcomes that can be related to all academic areas, and some of the journals related to sustainability.

Siting Renewable Energy on Potentially Contaminated Land and Mine Sites

EPA is encouraging renewable energy development on current and formerly contaminated land and mine sites when it is aligned with the community’s vision for the site. This initiative identifies the renewable energy potential of these sites and provides other useful resources for communities, developers, industry, state and local governments or anyone interested in reusing these sites for renewable energy development.

Smart Grid Information Clearing House: Education and Training

A list of the DOE-sponsored workforce training programs for manpower development necessary for the successful deployment of the smart grid at all levels. Programs listed can be browsed by training location and training type. The SGIC team also brings together smart grid related education short courses, webinars, and tutorials offered by various providers.

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More Resources

American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) Academic Guidance Document, "Education for Climate Neutrality and Sustainability"

Signatories to the ACUPCC have committed to take “actions to make climate neutrality and sustainability a part of the curriculum and other educational experiences for all students.” This guidance document, Education for Climate Neutrality and Sustainability, is intended to give high-level guidance to all college and university decision-makers and academic staff to provide strategies to integrate sustainability into all of education. This document is designed to identify some of the best practices across higher education.

American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) Greenhouse Gas Inventory Brief, including Tools and Resources for Conducting a Greenhouse Gas Inventory

Brief summary of common greenhouse gas inventory tools and resources, discussing the merits and drawbacks of each. This document can help you understand how to calculate greenhouse gas reductions from energy efficiency.

Biomimicry: 6 Hour Course for Educators

BioRegional: Solutions for Sustainability

Help your classroom be more global and more engaged in practical solutions. This entrepreneurial charity initiates practical sustainability solutions and delivers them by setting up new enterprises and partnerships around the world. They assist and encourage others to achieve sustainability through consultancy, education and informing policy. Also view their policy page to enhance the policy portion of your course and to develop civic engagement assignments/opportunities.

Campus Green Builder - Advancing Education for Sustainability via Green Building Curricula

This publication from the U. S. Green Building Council in collaboration with Second Nature provides guidance on integrating green building curricula across all disciplines and fields of study.

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.

OECD Sustainable Manufacturing Metrics Toolkit

This free toolkit provides a set of 18 internationally applicable, common and comparable key performance indicators to measure and improve the environmental performance of manufacturing facilities and products.

Report - 12,000 MW of Renewable Distributed Generation by 2020

The Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Inc. (IREC) released a new report that analyzes the ambitious goal set forth by California Governor Edmund Brown's office to spur 12,000-MW of distributed generation (DG). The report, 12,000 MW of Renewable Distributed Generation by 2020, provides a careful analysis of the benefits, costs and policy implications of the 12,000-MW goal, to inform decision-making on the development of the plan and help ensure its effective implementation.

NBC News video covering key energy issues

This free video covers key issues that explain what the U.S. can do to create a sustainable energy future (particularly the comments of Ken Zweibel). You can use as an overview or to generate more informed discussion and actions in your classroom.