Green Collar Jobs—
Helping Shape the Clean Energy Economy
Green Jobs Rally
Americans want a national energy policy which supports investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency to create green jobs and a sustainable future.
The movement to make American cities more sustainable, efficient and livable may be the greatest new engine for urban economic growth, innovation and job creation in many decades, according to a new report, developed by Green For All and three other organizations promoting a green economy. And Cleveland is one such city that stands to realize this promise through an innovative “green jobs” project at the Green Academy and Center for Sustainability at Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C). The Apollo Alliance, a labor-environmental coalition, along with the Center for American Progress and the Center for Wisconsin Strategy, also joined in producing the report, Green-Collar Jobs in America’s Cities: Building Pathways out of Poverty in The Clean Energy Economy.
Poverty and unemployment are significant problems in Northeast Ohio and there is an urgent need for a new source of living wage jobs for low income residents with barriers to employment. This population includes youths and adults who do not have a high school degree, have been out of the labor market for a long time, were formally incarcerated or have limited labor market skills.
The Green Academy provides training in green collar jobs which helps fulfill this need and creates a solution to our dependency on foreign oil, by supporting and encouraging a renewable energy future for our region. Green collar jobs are blue-collar jobs in green businesses—that is, manual labor jobs in businesses whose products and services directly, or indirectly, improve environmental quality, contributes to sustainability and optimizes the use of resources.
The solar array canopy at the Great Lakes Science Center put green jobs to work in Cleveland. The project was completed with technology developed by Ferro Corp., a design by Doty and Miller Architects, and a canopy built by Panzica Co. and Contemporary Electic, all Cleveland-area businesses.
The academy was established by Tri-C in early 2008 to serve the training needs of the construction sector in green building. Soon after the program began, the Green Academy expanded its mission and staff due to the great response the program received. The Green Academy recently moved to its new expanded location at Corporate College East in Warrensville Heights. In the main lobby of their new space, the academy is installing a “Green Room” which has a conference table made by A Piece of Cleveland, a company that develops creative products using reclaimed materials from deconstruction projects, an operational and mobile solar array, organic hemp furniture and other sustainable elements.
The training services provided by the Green Academy include individual professional training to support the new green economy, and training and services for green businesses. Training and business services are categorized into four areas: Green Building and Community; The Advanced Energy Economy; Sustainable Healthcare; and The Green Business Innovation Center.
The academy is forging relationships with several Chambers of Commerce to be the green trainer for their membership. Additionally, there are plans to collaborate with Chambers to facilitate green business start-up operations with an Innovation Center. There are some unique challenges a green business may face and the Green Academy attempts to address them, such as a trained workforce in green jobs, knowledge of financial incentives, capitalization obstacles, marketing avenues, and the benefits of certifications, accreditations and partnerships.
Green jobs at work - Cleveland Pipefitters, plumbers, and electricians installed a solar thermal system last year on the roof of Cleveland's Fire Station 20 on Pearl Road.
The new Executive Vice President, Dr. Craig Follins, in charge of the Workforce and Economic Development Division is behind the inception of the Green Academy and its recent expansion. Follins is instituting green practices in the three buildings of his division—no paper at meetings, an incandescent to compact fluorescent bulb exchange, elimination of Styrofoam and plastic in food service, an enhanced recycling program, immediate infusion of sustainability into every division program, a green hour, a green day and a green paper. Not only does Tri-C deliver training in all things sustainable, it is also working toward changing an entrenched culture of consumption and waste throughout all three college campuses.
The Green Academy is expanding locally, statewide and even nationally. Tri-C is going to receive $600,000 in funding from the Ohio Department of Development/Ohio Energy Office. The grant will help Tri-C fund a three-year project to develop its statewide training program for the Ohio residential building industry. Using newly developed Green Academy course offerings, Tri-C will develop turnkey curriculum for use by training teams throughout the state. The academy will train 337 contractors and builders, and 13 government building officials/raters during the project. Tri-C will be a catalyst for other community colleges throughout Ohio to institutionalize their own “green academies” and assist in the development of a tailored curriculum for their region. This project will deliver courses at Tri-C’s five
campus locations beginning in this fall.
Helping supplement the work of the Green Academy is the new “Renewable Energy” degree program at Tri-C. Serious research and development is being conducted at the College, often in conjunction with the Engineering faculty at Case, in fuel cell, solar, wind and other renewable sources. The ultimate goal is the graduation of renewable energy technicians to feed the new advanced energy economy.
For more information, call Brenda Cunningham at 216-987-3231 or email Leo Russo at Leo.Russo@tri-c.edu.
August/September 2008 Contents