Jobs
With the green industry rapidly growing, a new set of “green collar” jobs is now available. Articles in this section discuss job opportunities in the energy efficiency.
Everblue Corporate Sustainability Manager Training: Final Exam Review
Jan 4th
We have received a lot of feedback to include more Sustainability coverage and resources into our website. I recently reached out to Everblue, an accredited training company that specializes in energy and sustainability courses, to see if I could take and review their Corporate Sustainability Manager course. They thankfully agreed.
The course, which is 24 hours long and takes 3 weeks to complete, can either be taken in classrooms all over the country or online. I’m taking the online course and will be offering a review of my experience after each session. My hope is that my feedback will give you a good idea of what you will learn and whether this course will prepare you to tackle your company’s sustainability initiatives.
Everblue Corporate Sustainability Manager Training: Week 4 Review
Dec 26th
We’ve received a lot of feedback to include more Sustainability coverage and resources into our website. I recently reached out to Everblue, an accredited training company that specializes in energy and sustainability courses, to see if I could take and review their Corporate Sustainability Manager course. They thankfully agreed.
The course, which is 24 hours long and takes 3 weeks to complete, can either be taken in classrooms all over the country or online. I’m taking the online course and will be offering a review of my experience after each session. My hope is that my feedback will give you a good idea of what you will learn and whether this course will prepare you to tackle your company’s sustainability initiatives.
Everblue’s Corporate Sustainability Manager Training – Week 3 Review
Dec 16th
We’ve received a lot of feedback to include more Sustainability coverage and resources into our website. I recently reached out to Everblue, an accredited training company that specializes in energy and sustainability courses, to see if I could take and review their Corporate Sustainability Manager course. They thankfully agreed.
The course, which is 24 hours long and takes 3 weeks to complete, can either be taken in classrooms all over the country or online. I’m taking the online course and will be offering a review of my experience after each session. My hope is that my feedback will give you a good idea of what you will learn and whether this course will prepare you to tackle your company’s sustainability initiatives.
Environment Defense Fund’s Climate Corps Program Puts People To Work
Oct 10th
Victoria Mills, Managing Director of Corporate Partnerships for the Environmental Defense Fund, discusses the impact that the Fellows from the EDF’s Climate Corps Program has on the execution of meaning energy efficient projects within companies and government.
Where to find jobs in energy efficiency
Jul 15th
Here’s something you don’t hear people complain about much these days: worker shortages. That is, unless you’re in energy efficiency, an industry that is booming as others are busting.
Sixty percent of those responding to a recent survey by the Association of Energy Services Professionals cited a lack of talented workers in energy efficiency.
“Energy efficiency is a rapidly growing segment of the overall energy industry and we believe there is a clear lack of talent that is necessary to fill the positions that are open,” said Meg Matt, the AESP president and CEO.
So where do you find these jobs?
Another recent report, this one by the Brookings Institution and Battelle’s Technology Partnership, sheds some light. Look to major metropolitan areas and young businesses for jobs not only in energy efficiency, but also in other segments of the clean economy, according to Sizing the Clean Economy: A National and Regional Green Jobs Assessment.
In the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, the clean economy expanded by 8.3 percent, says the report. Efficiency, renewable energy, biofuels and other clean industries accounted for 2.7 million US jobs in 2010. To put that number in perspective, that’s more jobs than you’ll find in fossil fuels or biosciences, but still less than information technology.
Green jobs in general, and green construction in particular, were clustered in 100 large metropolitan areas. About 73 percent of the nation’s LEED certified green buildings are in these cities. Raleigh and Seattle have strong green architecture and building sectors. The energy saving/ building materials industry is thriving in Houston and Minneapolis. Boston excels in HVAC and building control systems, according to the Brookings/Battelle report.
The findings are in keeping with U.S. economic geography. The 100 largest metropolitan areas “are the nation’s innovation engines,” responsible for 78 percent of the US’ green patents. Further, most of the “highest-impact” U.S. cleantech firms called out in the 2010 Global Cleantech 100 list are based in these cities, particularly Boston, San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles, said the report. In all, the100 biggest cities created three-quarters of the clean economy jobs from 2003 to 2010.
“In short, metropolitan areas, large and small, are now and will increasingly be the nation’s critical centers of clean economy talent, innovation, and finance and so its top hubs of commercialization, deployment, and trade,” the report said. “Regions and metropolitan areas, in short, are not a part of the national clean economy; they are that economy.”
Looking at broader regions, it’s not surprising to find California and the West responsible for the most clean economy jobs, when measured as a percentage of total employment. About 2.2 percent of the jobs in the West are related to the clean economy. The Northeast comes in second at 2.1 percent, followed by the Midwest’s 2 percent and the South’s 1.8 percent.
What kinds of businesses produce clean economy jobs? The young upstarts – or at least they’re responsible for the recent mercurial job growth.
Here’s how Brooking/Battelle explained this phenomenon. “Old establishments in the clean economy (those born before 2003) created an average of just three jobs for every one establishment from 2003 to 2010 while new establishments created 37 jobs. This compares favorably to new establishments nationally which created just 10 jobs per establishment over the same period.”
How much do these jobs pay? Quite a bit.
Brooking/Battelle found that clean economy jobs pay about 13 percent more than typical US jobs, and have a median wage of $44,000. AESP said 80 percent of those who responded to its survey cited vacant jobs in energy efficiency with salaries of $50,000 to $100,000 and 28 percent said jobs were untaken at salaries of $100,000 to $150,000.
So spread the word. Not all the economic news is gloom and doom. Energy efficiency and the clean economy are hiring.
A no-granola case for energy efficiency
Jul 11th
I attended a green energy conference nearly a decade ago in Washington, D.C., where several speakers expressed astonishment at the audience’s clothes. People were dressed in business attire. Where were the ponytails? The Birkenstocks?
The event marked a new age for green energy, the beginning of its migration from counter-culture to corporation.
Today green energy is, well, more like conglomeration. But still the industry carries remnants of its former self, the occasional speck of crunchy granola spilling onto the power point presentation. At these times, the industry comes under attack for making its case by using moral or social arguments rather than business fundamentals.
How to solve this problem? Enlist an army.
That’s what the Environmental Defense Fund is doing. It’s called the EDF Climate Corps and its recruits are MBA students.
EDF set up the program four years ago to demonstrate to large companies the business case for becoming more energy efficient. Climate Corps has a dual benefit. The MBA students get the chance to serve as summer interns at major companies; the companies get the benefit of their training in energy efficiency and business. Dozens of big name companies have since participated, among them AT&T, McDonald’s, Facebook, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, Dow Jones News and Procter & Gamble.
EDF starts by training students in the basics of energy efficiency, providing enough background, so that with their knowledge of business and finance, they can investigate a corporate setting and find ways to improve the bottom line through energy savings.
Emily Reyna, who is now the Climate Corps project manager for corporate partnerships, started as one of the interns four years ago. She was assigned to Cisco, where she sought savings in the company’s 1, 500 data centers or “labs.” She spent the early weeks of her internship touring the labs and investigating energy efficiency initiatives already underway at Cisco. In her investigation, she discovered that one lab manager had reduced energy costs 25% in six months by installing a kind of smart plug that allows remote control of outlets. The plug can be programmed so that when the outlet idles for awhile, it sends a message to the user. This serves as a reminder to shut off equipment plugged in but not in use.
The smart plug was a good idea, but not one that had been shared across Cisco. Reyna spread the word. Her analysis showed that use of the smart plug could save Cisco $8 million annually. “I wasn’t an expert in energy savings, but by talking to all of these different lab managers, I was able to identify a best practice,” Reyna said.
Other interns have recommended improved lighting, occupancy sensors, dimmers, variable frequency drives on motors, demand-control ventilation, and a range of other energy efficiency measures that total $439 million in net operational savings.
“Even more exciting, we actually check in with the companies six months and 18 months after the fellows have gone. What we’ve seen is that projects accounting for 86% of the energy savings are underway or completed,” she said.
The program has grown substantially, from a handful four years ago to 49 companies with 57 students this year. Half of the companies are repeat participants. Some of the businesses have offered students full-time jobs upon graduation.
“What we found is that there are a lot of barriers that companies face to implementing energy efficiency – knowledge barriers or organizational barriers or maybe the IT guys aren’t talking to facilities managers,” Reyna said.
The Climate Corps program introduces “an external force” to overcome the barriers, one that can “crunch the numbers” and “speak the same language as the financial people,” she said.
In short, rather than receiving a finger wagging, the companies are shown in their own tongue at their own facility the value of green – and there is no granola left on the power point.
Written by Elisa Wood; who is a long-time energy business writer. To read more of her articles on energy visit www.RealEnergyWriters.com
Where To Find Energy Efficiency Business Opportunities
Feb 11th
No one would disagree that this is a good time to be in the energy efficiency business. Another report, this one out last week, signals just how good.
Conducted by Comverge, the survey of more than 100 US utilities found that 92% plan to increase their efficiency budgets by at least 10% in 2011. Comverge also found that 22% plan to boost their EE budgets by more than 20%..
Good Skills To Have To Start A New Career In Energy
Feb 7th
So what are these “green collar jobs” everyone is talking about and where can I get one?
Green collar jobs are the 21st century equivalent of blue-collar manufacturing jobs in the 20th century. They provide good wages and stable work for the millions of people installing solar panels, conducting home energy audits and weatherizing these homes for maximum energy efficiency. More >
Enough California Clean Energy Jobs To Go Around
Jan 31st
The studies are clear.
Clean energy development creates jobs. But so does offshore oil drilling and building mega dairies, and both — although decidedly smellier in various aspects — have proven track records. More >
Steps To Becoming A Certified Energy Auditor
Jan 2nd
With the rise of more residential energy efficiency incentive programs and a greater awareness of the opportunities afforded by the new ‘green-collar’ economy, many people are entering the field of energy auditing. More >
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