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 - 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.

Emerald Cities Collaborative: Building Trades Curriculum

The Multi-Craft Core Curriculum is an innovative training curriculum that provides a gateway from high school or community college to joint industry registered apprenticeships in the Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD), AFL-CIO.

Keeping It in the Community: Sustainable Funding for Local Energy Efficiency Initiatives

This report describes several local funding options and provides examples where each has been adopted. Options discussed include utility partnerships; licensing, service, or waste fees; energy or carbon taxes; systems benefit funds; bonds; and options to capture the value created by avoided energy costs to create self-sustaining funds through revolving loan funds or other mechanisms. (May 2012)

Report on The Long-Term Energy Efficiency Potential - What the Evidence Suggests

This report explains how we can reduce overall energy consumption by 40 to 60 percent. The savings would benefit all parts of the economy including the residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation sectors. A pattern of productive efficiency investments would drive a net gain of almost two million jobs even as consumers save an average of $400 billion per year (the equivalent of about $2,600 per household). (January 2012)

Equipment Needs for Weatherization Training Centers

List of equipment needed, and other materials, for a weatherization training center from the Pennsylvania College of Technology (PCT) Weatherization Training Center (WTC).
- Download the PDF (Updated - April, 2011)

Free Energy Efficiency Online Training Materials

This Energy Star website includes annimated and self-guided presentation as well as pre-recorded training on how-to improve energy performance.

Advanced Manufacturing Office Training Sessions and Downloadable Webinars (EERE)

The Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) office of Advanced Manufacturing offers system-wide and component-specific training programs to help run plants and businesses more efficiently. The training is offered throughout the year and around the country.

Advanced Manufacturing Office of the EERE

The Advanced Manufacturing Office of the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) works with diverse partners to develop and deploy technologies and practices that will help U.S. manufacturers succeed in global markets.
- View the Technology Deployment page for information on Tools, Training, and other important information.

Sector Resources for Energy Efficiency

This page provides sector resources on energy efficiency including information on news, conferences, funding opportunities and documents.

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Best Practices Field Guide: Michigan Community Action Agency Association (MCAAA) Midwest Weatherization

This field guide provides a single source for the best of what MCAAA knows what to do and how to do it. It is not only for the midwest states, but for other states around the country who are striving to implement high quality programs. It is the result of a strong partnerships and cooperation that the eight states share on a regular basis as they work throughout the region. This best practices field guide can be used to develop weatherization curricula.

Middlesex Community College (MCC) Energy Utility Technology Program

Hands-on training and experience are provided to help meet the utility industry’s anticipated shortage of multi-skilled energy technicians who perform maintenance and construction on power lines and substations.

Moraine Valley Community College (MVCC) Workforce Development and Community Services Customized Training

See how to structure offerings to the community via workforce and community education.

National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT)

The National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) (formerly known as ATTRA) houses information on sustainable and renewable energy issues and sustainable and organic agriculture challenges. The resources, compiled over 30+ years, include downloadable presentations, current projects and much more. NCAT is a private nonprofit organization, founded in 1976, which manages a series of projects that promote self-reliance and sustainable lifestyles through wise use of appropriate technology.

National Partnership for Environmental Technology Education (PETE)

PETE's goals include: support the use of sustainable practices and technologies in workforce and economic development and global competitiveness to meet the demands of a greening economy; and, to advocate global environmental stewardship and literacy through national and international programs and partnerships in education and training. It connects faculty to faculty, college to college, and college to industry.

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 Science Foundation (NSF) Award Winners

Search for colleges that have received National Science Foundation awards in your topic of choice. Use this site to contact schools that have won awards to build curricula in your specific technology area.

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.

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.

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