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

Affordable Comfort, Inc. (ACI) Advancing the Performance of Residential Buildings through Education and Building Science

Resources including national and regional conferences, and other training programs, that brings together the thinkers and doers who are committed to finding out how buildings really work. ACI resources aim at solving technical problems, learning new techniques, tools and materials, and building businesses.

Book - Beyond Green Jobs: Building Lasting Opportunities in Energy Efficiency

California Construction Academy’s new book, Beyond Green Jobs describes how comprehensive, deep green energy efficiency can bring the best benefits to the environment and create good, long-term careers. It demystifies the construction industry, captures snapshots of innovative programs throughout the country, and provides a foundation to bring energy efficiency to scale.
- Available for Free Download

Guide on How To Engage Employers

This guide is designed to help think about employer engagement as part of implementing workforce development strategies – and bringing current practices up to the next level.For each principle we have included several strategies from peer ARRA grantees who have implemented the principles in their own communities. Stories from grantees in the field are provided as well as resources on the Communities of Practice and beyond.

Higher Education: Leading the Nation to a Safe & Secure Energy Future

A white paper from ACUPCC and Second Nature that explores how the federal government can develop and enhance energy efficiency and renewable energy incentives for colleges and universities.

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.

Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE)

A bipartisan local government initiative that would allow property owners to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects for their homes and commercial buildings through an assessment on their property taxes for up to 20 years. PACE financing spreads the cost of energy improvements such as weather sealing, insulation, energy efficient boilers and cooling systems, new windows, and solar installations over the expected life of the measures and allows for the repayment obligation to transfer automatically to the next property owner if the property is sold.
- CLICK HERE to view PACE Initiatives by State

The Building Codes Assistance Project (BCAP)

This website shows the current status of energy codes state by state, and by country. Maps are available for implementation (those states participating in a compliance project, residential adoption (those states that have adopted the IECC), commercial adoption (those states that have adopted ASHRAE standard 90.1) and for global code status.
- CLICK HERE for Maps of Current Code Statuses

US DOE: Building Energy Codes Program (BECP)

The Building Energy Codes Program offers software, available for download and web-based, to assess residential and commercial compliance. This software allows you to generate your own code-compliant insulation and window packages, or choose from pre-defined, prescriptive packages.
- CLICK HERE for Software & Tools
- CLICK HERE for the Top Ten Reasons for Building Energy Codes

More Resources

25% Renewables by 2025

View “25x’25”s resources page which covers both technology and policy issues that can prove helpful in the development of curricular materials and information packets. "25x'25" is a nonprofit advocating for renewable energy and a goal for America – to get 25 percent of our energy from renewable resources like wind, solar, and biofuels by the year 2025.

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.

BlueGreen Alliance

The BlueGreen Alliance is a national, strategic partnership between labor unions and environmental organizations dedicated to expanding the number and quality of jobs in the green economy.

Book - Beyond Green Jobs: Building Lasting Opportunities in Energy Efficiency

Greening Schools

Greening Schools was a joint project between the Illinois EPA and the Waste Management Research Center. Funding is no longer available to maintain all the services Greening Schools once provided. However, they still update the news and funding information sections and provide resources for greening educator's lesson plans.

Guide on How To Engage Employers

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.

Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI)

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) is a non-profit organization that advances innovative policy solutions that set us on a cleaner, more secure and sustainable energy path. View their Briefings page for documents on Policy as well as their Resource page jobs fact sheets. Use this page for Curricular Materials <> <>

North Carolina Solar Center

The North Carolina Solar Center, at N.C. State University, advances a sustainable energy economy by educating, demonstrating and providing support for clean energy technologies, practices, and policies. The N.C. Solar Center serves as a resource for innovative, clean energy technologies through demonstration, technical assistance, outreach and training. It also administers the Database of Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE), a resource providing financial incentives and policies.