Energy-Efficient Renovations

Energy-efficient renovations are helping students learn as they assist instructors and contractors in making improvements to existing center facilities. While Construction students gain green industry knowledge and expertise through their work on renovation projects, other students and staff members learn how facility improvements can impact the environment as they encounter the energy-efficient upgrades in their daily routines.

Construction students at the Penobscot Job Corps Center were integral in completing renovations that spanned the campus. The students incorporated energy-saving features including solar lighting and weatherproofing insulation into a garage that houses the center's electric vehicles. The students installed low-flow toilets and automatic water faucets in the center's bathrooms to reduce water usage.

"This training is going to help me as more and more contractors decide to use this new technology," said Tyler Morgan, one of the students who worked on the bathroom renovation. "This is going to be a jumpstart for my career."

Forty-seven centers made lighting improvements with ARRA funding. Some centers upgraded old fixtures with new efficient technology, from low-energy "Exit" signs at the Alaska Job Corps Center to motion detector lighting at the San Diego and Atterbury Job Corps Centers.

Newly installed automated appliances, including bathroom hand dryers and sink faucets, help centers ensure that staff and students limit unnecessary energy and water usage, decreasing consumption. The Charleston and Muhlenberg centers' laundry room facilities were improved by the addition of energy-efficient washers and dryers.

The Earle C. Clements, Gerald R. Ford, Keystone, Muhlenberg, Old Dominion, South Bronx, Springdale, Woodland, and Woodstock Job Corps Centers installed low-flow plumbing fixtures, such as showerheads, faucets, and toilets to reduce water usage in center bathrooms.

Energy-efficient renovations extended to equipment and machines that keep centers running on a daily basis. Twenty-two centers, including the Dayton Job Corps Center, installed new Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems or solar-powered water heaters to replace older, less efficient versions.

Students at the Atterbury and Sacramento centers worked side-by-side with instructors to learn about weatherproofing by insulating building doors, windows, and roofs. The students' weatherproofing work will help their centers hold down heating and cooling costs. Weatherproofing skills are increasingly in demand in the construction industry, and Job Corps is meeting that demand with the launch of a new Weatherization Technician training program, which will better equip graduates in the modern workplace.