Higher Education Alignment to Support Initiatives of theEnergy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy (EECS) – CERT Report

The Consortium for Education, Research & Technology (CERT) has been retained by Gulf Geoexchange and Consulting Services, Inc. in partnership with the City of Shreveport and serves on the Project Team in three key roles to support the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy (EECS):

Identify and align the combined resources of 12 higher education member institutions across North Louisiana to focus on research and development, workforce development and K-12/community outreach;

Serve a “link and leverage” role to others across existing silos—education, government, nonprofits, businesses, funding sources and others—who can help with the process (e.g. baseline, reporting, GIS); and

Help inform the work group, creating common knowledge base (e.g., best practices, analyses) to explore new educational models to use in the process.

As part of the Project Team, CERT will help manage the networks, identify funding and track initiatives.

Higher education resources. CERT Chancellors/Presidents (or their designees) for the past year have committed to learning the Strategic Doing process and to aligning their resources on multiple, innovative initiatives or projects. CERT has surveyed member institutions to identify current “energy systems” research projects, grants, and members of college faculties who have expertise and new technologies to contribute in one or more of the six EECS focus areas:

Building Energy Efficiency Clean & Renewable Energy Sources Reduction of Waste & Pollution Transportation & Land Use Alternatives Green Workforce/ Business Incentives Energy Education/ Outreach

Database. CERT is constructing a database of both academic and research and development resources of the 12 member institutions across the region. Examples include a Louisiana Tech University research project, “Nanoparticle Incorporated Heterogeneous Catalyst System for Biodiesel Production” and an LSU-Shreveport Institute of Human Services & Public Policy that can assist the Project Team in designing metrics and indicators.

“Green Jobs” framework. CERT will convene a work group of higher education and k-12 educators to develop a plan framework for green jobs. CERT surveyed the U.S. Department of Labor February 2009 report, “Greening of the World of Work: Implications for O*NET-SOC and New and Emerging Occupations.” DOL urges moving beyond simply applying a broad label such as “green jobs,” to identify the “greening of occupations” in three categories, and project increased demand:

Green increased demand occupations—an increase in the employment demand for an existing occupations

Green enhanced skills occupations—a significant change to the work and worker requirements of an existing occupation; i.e., tasks, skills, knowledge and credentials have been altered, and

Green new and emerging (N&E) occupations—impact is sufficient to create the need for unique work and worker requirements; the new occupation could be entirely novel or “born” from an existing occupation.

Through a multi-stage research and screening process that included a review of existing literature, identification and compiling of job titles, review and sorting of job titles, and clustering of job titles into 12 sector occupational sectors, the National Center for O*NET Development identified 64 “green increased demand,” 60 “green enhanced skills,” and 91 “new and emerging occupations.” The following matrix, excerpted from “A Green Growing Economy: Opportunities of Tomorrow,” by Juliet P. Scarpa (May 13, 2009), shows the potential for green jobs across sectors:

Industry Sector Definition Requirements Sample OccupationsGreen Building/ Sustainable/ Integrated designTraditional Industry Sectors; Manufacturing; Construction; Utilities

The design and construction of environmentally sustainable and energy efficient buildings

Manufacturing building materials; planning, design and construction

Green architects; HVAC workers; Carpenters; Plumbers; Welders; Electricians; Sheet-metal workers; Cement masons; Skilled machine operators

Energy EfficiencyTraditional Industry Sectors: Manufacturing; Construction; Utilities

The retrofitting of existing building infrastructure using healthy and more resource-efficient models of construction, renovation, operation, maintenance, and demolition.

Auditing energy use in existing buildings; Manufacturing materials and devices; Installing efficient lighting and heating systems; Installing insulation, windows and appliances; Production of appropriate technologies (fluorescent lights, water filtration systems, permeable concretes, solar panels, etc.); Maintenance & operation

Electricians; Technicians; Insulation workers; Equipment and installation specialist (solar panel installation); Home weatherizing; Energy Auditors

Renewable Energy (Solar/PV, Wind Energy, Geothermal, Hydro/Marine)Traditional Industry Sectors: Utilities

The use of natural resources (other than Biomass) for energy which are naturally replinishable

Manufacturing parts; Assembly & Installation of solar panels/ finished heating systems; Constructing wind farms; Operating and maintaining wind turbines; repairing systems; Marketing and selling systems to consumers

Solar panel installer; Steelworkers

Recycling/ Waste Management/ RemovalTraditional Industry Sectors: Manufacturing; Utilities; Technology

The collection, treatment, and disposal or reuse of waste materials

Composting; Materials reuse and recycling; Pollution Control; Water Conservation & treatment; Components, Manufacturing & Distribution/Enabling Technology; Environmental Consulting, Protection & Remediation

Recycling technician; Waste treatment operators; Sustainability coordinator; Bio-mimicry engineer; Environmental Science and protection technician

Smart Grid/ Smart EnergyTraditional Industry Sectors: Manufacturing; Utilities

Auto-balancing, self-monitoring power grid that accepts any source of fuel and transforms it into a consumer’s optimal renewable energy usage with minimal human intervention

Manufacturing & Installation, Distributing and marketing products

Field and control engineers; Communication protocol program manager; Managing consultant

Biomass/ Biofuels/ Biosynergy/ Ethanol/ Fuel Cells/ HydrogenTraditional Industry-sectors; Manufacturing; Construction; Agriculture; transportation

Fuel creation from chemical/ biological materials other than fossil fuels

Growing and harvesting crops for feedstock, collecting waste oils for feedstock, manufacturing parts for production facilities; construction, maintenance and operation of production facilities

Process technicians in biodiesel or ethanol companies

Vehicle Electrification/ Alternative TransportationTraditional Industry

A ground vehicle propelled by a motor powered by electrical energy from

Public Transportation, Bicycle repair & bike delivery services, Transit line construction,

Research and Development jobs; Technology design jobs; Hybrid & Biodiesel

Sectors: Transportation rechargeable batteries or other source onboard the vehicle or from and external source in, on, or above the roadway

Emissions broker, Engine component manufacturing

vehicle conversion & repair jobs; Maintenance jobs; Automotive service technicians and mechanics

Sustainable Agriculture/ Green SpaceTraditional Industry Sectors: Agriculture

An integrated system of plant and animal production practices that are efficient and sustainable

Production, Marketing, Processing, Consumption

Sustainable/ organic farming; Local Food production/ systems; Forestry – sustainable forestry worker; Urban agriculture; Land use planning; Sustainable landscaping

Green Jobs in Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy (EECS) Focus Areas

CERT will work with the EECS work group on Green Workforce/ Business Incentives to engage an open network of public and private sector stakeholders (e.g. North Louisiana Economic Partnership, Workforce Investment Board representatives, energy-related employer representatives) to identify occupations in the four focus areas that are expected to show a) increased demand, b) enhanced skills, or c) new and emerging occupations. The work group will develop a Matrix naming green occupations needed for the focus areas, sorted by categories—increased demand, enhanced skills, or new and expanded (N&E)—citing labor demand information, listing available training programs, and identifying curricula that need to be developed with employer input.

EECS Focus Area Potential “Green Jobs” GrowthBuilding Energy EfficiencyRepresents both the design and construction of environmentally sustainable and energy efficient buildings as well as the retrofitting of existing building infrastructure

Green architectsHVAC workersCarpentersPlumbersWeldersElectriciansEnergy auditors

Clean & Renewable Energy SourcesOnsite renewable energy generation; energy distribution technology; and reduction/ capture of methane and other greenhouse gases

Solar panel installerField and control engineersCommunication protocol program manager

Reduction of Waste & PollutionRecycling programs; reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; and watershed management

Recycling technicianWaste treatment operatorsSustainability coordinatorEnvironmental science & protection technician

Transportation & Land Use AlternativesEnergy conservation in transportation; sustainable agriculture and green space

Research & development jobsTechnology design jobsCNG and electrical conversion and repair jobsAutomotive technicians and mechanicsOrganic farmingLocal food production Urban agricultureForestry worker

Implications for EECS Work Group on sixth Focus Area, Energy Education/ OutreachThe “Green Jobs” work group will summarize process and research, with recommendations for the EECS Steering Committee. The work group, spanning K-12, community colleges and universities, will identify “career pathways” or “career lattices” that offer opportunities for citizens to pursue ascending levels of education and certifications. The green revolution can bring both environmental and social change by providing green jobs that are family-supporting to people without high levels of education, provided they seek additional training. Historically, community colleges have moved the working poor to middle-skills jobs with sustaining wages; Bossier Parish Community College, Louisiana Technical College, and Southern University at Shreveport address that need.

Sheet-metal workersCement masonsSkilled machine operatorsInsulation workersHome weatherizing

Land use planningSustainable landscaping

Potential funding opportunities. CERT has developed a summary sheet and is researching federal and other funding opportunities that EECS can leverage for identified energy efficiency and conservation projects. Of the funding opportunities reviewed, fewer than one-third require cost sharing, though all programs award points for leveraging other grants and private sector partners, for example, a Retrofit Ramp-up program rewards partnering with banks, local utilities, appliance retailers, and construction firms. Funding agencies and programs include Housing & Urban Development, Department of Commerce, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Agriculture, Department of Homeland Security, National Science Foundation, Department of the Interior, Department of Education, and Department of Transportation. Building energy audits, tax credits, and weatherization, particularly for low-income, are encouraged, and innovation is rewarded across a wide variety of market sectors. (See samples in the Appendix.)

Public/ private partnerships. CERT will identify and align strategic partners to support EECS working groups. For example, CERT currently works with Community Renewal International (CRI) in connecting Louisiana higher education to companies like Storer Equipment, Trane, Hubbell Building Automation and CISCO to deploy new energy conserving technologies for the design and construction of the national Center for Community Renewal.

Energy education/ outreach. Although CERT will be convening higher education and K-12 for collaborative efforts around green workforce and curricula, the EECS Steering Committee stipulates that every project selected and funded should incorporate strategies and funds for marketing energy education to citizens. On member states, “Think of ourselves and build policies that encourage us to think of ourselves as energy producers and consumers, energy entrepreneurs.” Another urged creating energy-related projects that serve neighborhoods and diversion programs for unemployed, underemployed, prison labor and at-risk youth. CERT was asked to serve as the “key hub for collaboration” around projects that educate citizens about energy. For example, CERT is partnering with EnCana Energy, Bossier Parish Community College and Southern University at Shreveport to conduct four, one-week Energy Venture Camps in summer 2010 for Bossier and Caddo 14- and 15-year olds. Some members of the EECS Steering Committee and Project Team also serve on the Shreveport/Caddo Master Plan work groups, and will seek to build on the values identified by Shreveport citizens. CERT will identify portions of the Master Plan that contribute to EECS initiatives to improve Shreveport’s energy independence.