Workforce Development

• What are Clean Energy Jobs?
• How Does a State Develop a Clean Energy Workforce?
• What Certifications are Used?
• What are States Doing?
• Resources

What are Clean Energy Jobs?

Many organizations have offered different definitions of green jobs. The following definition is provided by The White House's Middle Class Task Force:

“Green jobs are jobs that provide products and services which use renewable energy resources, reduce pollution, conserve energy and natural resources, and reconstitute waste.”

In 2010, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released their definition of green jobs, stating that green jobs are either: jobs in businesses that produce goods or services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources, or jobs in which worker’s duties involve making their establishment’s production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources.

Clean energy jobs are a subset of green jobs—those related to energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean combined heat and power (CHP). Examples of clean energy jobs can include:

• Energy auditors
• Insulation and weatherization technicians
• HVAC technicians and installers
• Wind energy technicians
• Solar photovoltaics or solar water heating installers
• Manufacturers, distributors, and salespeople of energy efficient products
• Low carbon (or clean energy) transportation planners, manufacturers, refiners, or technicians
• Research and development staff
• State energy and/or environment office staff

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How Does a State Develop a Clean Energy Workforce?

The aim of developing a clean energy workforce is for the demand for open jobs to match the supply of qualified workers. Basic guidelines for developing an effective clean energy workforce include the following:

1. Promote clean energy policies, which are needed to develop and expand the market for services and businesses, and therefore jobs.
   • Energy efficiency policies and programs, such as energy savings goals, lead by example measures, and weatherization programs can spur the market for clean energy businesses.
   • Renewable energy policies, such as renewable portfolio standards, green power purchasing targets, and on-site generation incentives (e.g., solar photovoltaics) can spur the market for clean energy businesses.
   • Consider strategies to develop and/or strengthen in-state green businesses that can fulfill these policies. Examples include creating clean-tech clusters and implementing revolving loans for the retooling of manufacturing facilities.
2. Identify current and future projections of business and labor market needs in the target market(s) to determine gaps.
   • Use U.S. Department of Labor statistics related to industry and labor market data, and competency models to understand the skills needed to work in various sectors.
   • Convene meetings with industry to identify specific skill gaps in your region.
3. Facilitate partnerships between workforce development stakeholders.
   • Leverage potential partners that already exist, such as state departments of labor and other state agencies, industry associations, workforce investment boards, career centers, chambers of commerce, local unions, and related NGOs.
   • Create sector-based collaboratives to identify what efforts are needed in a specific target sector to train workers.

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What Certifications are Used?

Although no national certification standard exists, the following certifications are currently used by many states:

• Building Performance Institute (BPI) certifies weatherization auditors, energy efficiency installation personnel, and other professionals in the residential and multifamily building performance contracting industry.
• Institute for Sustainable Power Quality (ISPQ) offers accreditation for renewable energy training providers. Providers that receive ISPQ accreditation have undergone a rigorous application and audit process, and their course content follows an industry task analysis.
• North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) offers national certification programs for solar electric and solar thermal installers.
• Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET®) certifies home energy raters that evaluate buildings based on a relative energy use index called the HERS® Index.

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What are States Doing?

Common strategies for developing clean energy workforce development programs include:

• Evaluating the current clean energy workforce in a state and conducting gap analyses to identify training program and industry needs.
• Establishing dedicated “green collar” funds to finance worker training programs (e.g., legislatively, through system benefits charges, with Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative auction funds).
• Working with established universities, community colleges, and vocational/technical high schools to integrate clean energy workforce training into existing curricula and programs.
• Tailoring programs for low–income workers (e.g., Pathways out of Poverty).

Unique approaches to clean energy workforce development include:

• Awarding additional renewable energy certificates (RECs) to utilities with an apprenticeship program (e.g., Washington )
• Authorizing community colleges to issue bonds on behalf of businesses that create green jobs-with the money used to support training for new jobs and related program administrative expenses(e.g., Iowa New Jobs Training Program)
• Developing regional workforce response teams that can cater to unique conditions and energy opportunities within regions of a state e.g., Oregon Workforce Response Teams )
• Combining multiple state departments that influence job creation to align all activities related to energy efficiency and renewable energy with the state's workforce efforts (e.g., Michigan ).
• Creating an in-state resource center to focus on training trainers, developing curricula, identifying career pathways, and conducting regional labor market studies (e.g., Louisiana ).

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