JUNE 4, 2009 ISSUE
Getting a Handle on Green Training—What Is It?
Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute’s new Occupational Training Facility will open in the fall 2009 semester. The building will house training programs for the college’s Institute for Sustainable Technology, a collection of five pathway programs in skilled trades that incorporate training in green skills.
Sometimes you just need to sit down in the same room. That was the thought of the Watauga JobLink Management Team members when they approached staff at Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute and suggested a get-together to discuss green training programs at the college.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) emphasizes green training for laid-off and underskilled workers, and an influx of ARRA money into Workforce Investment Act services in the High Country means that approximately 600 additional adults in the seven-county region will be able to receive training at no cost. But what exactly is green training? And where can you get it?
Turns out you can get it at Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute.
Workforce Investment Act case managers, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation case managers and representatives from the Department of Social Services and the Hospitality House met on May 29 with several staff members of Caldwell’s Corporate and Continuing Education Department to talk training—face to face.
Jeff Holman, director of vocational and technical corporate and continuing education at the college, explained the college’s Institute for Sustainable Technology, a collection of five pathway programs in skilled trades that incorporate training in green skills.
“We train green skills more than green jobs,” Holman said. “A plumber is a plumber, but one who can install a solar thermal system is a green plumber.”
In creating the five pathway programs—homebuilder, industry, electrical, HVAC and plumbing—Caldwell looked for ways to integrate green skills courses into existing curricula, Holman said.
The HVAC Pathway, for example, includes instruction in sustainable development, renewable energy, emerging trends in high performance building and HERS (Home Energy Rating System) certification.
The Electrical Pathway includes instruction in photovoltaic technology and installation, and the Plumbing Pathway teaches solar thermal technology and installation. The Industry Pathway is a project-based course that teaches facilities managers step by step how to reduce the energy consumption of the large buildings they manage and to take advantage of available tax credits. The average savings per company, according to Holman, have been $12,000 per year. The Homebuilder’s Pathway focuses on sustainable design and development, water management and green landscape design, renewable energy and high performance building.
Institute for Sustainable Technology Pathway programs are appropriate for already-trained tradesmen, as well as those new to these fields, Holman said, because of the curricula’s embrace of current technology and the potential for entrepreneurial opportunities—particularly in weatherization and home certification work. And tradesmen who are currently out of work or seeing a significant reduction in their workload can use this downtime to upgrade their skills in preparation for the future.
Energy-saving technology is here to stay, Holman said, although the industry “has to overcome the black eye of the ‘70s when leaky solar panels and contractors who performed work that didn’t deliver as promised” soured people on the whole idea of spending money to save money on energy—savings that they often did not see.
The situation is much different today, Holman said, with the government pouring billions of dollars into sustainable research and into green jobs training. Soon, he predicted, state building codes will begin to require the types of energy-saving technologies that Caldwell instructors are teaching right now.
Holman said Caldwell plans to begin offering Institute for Sustainable Technology Pathway programs at the Watauga campus—in the brand-new Occupational Training Facility—this fall. For more information about the available programs, call Holman at 828-726-2382. To find out if you qualify for training through the Workforce Investment Act, call the Watauga County JobLink Career Center at 828-265-5385.
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