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8/9/2019 Greener Skills: How Credentials Create Value in the Clean Energy Economy
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SARAH WHITE with LAURA DRESSER and JOEL ROGERS2010
C O W Scenter on wisconsin strategy
Greener
Skills
H ow Cre d e n ti als Cre at e Valu e in t h e Cle an E n e rg y E c on om y
8/9/2019 Greener Skills: How Credentials Create Value in the Clean Energy Economy
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Acknowledgements
This paper, perhaps more than most, draws on a long history of collaboration and rumination on the concepts of green and skills
among principals at COWS. Laura Dresser, Joel Rogers, and Sarah White developed the arguments in this paper through countless
conversations, and the report plunders freely from Joels extensive writing on these topics. Kari Dickinson, Adrienne Pagac, and Ayca
Zayim provided research and production assistance. Others around the country improved early dras with advice and information,including Rhandi Berth, Mindy Feldbaum, Evelyn Ganzglass, Alan Hardcastle, Jeremy Hays, Beth Holst, Kari Knudson, Jeannine La Prad,
Andy Levin, Sally Prouty, Je Rickert, Whitney Smith, Jessa Valentine, Jason Walsh, and Jane Weissman. Thanks to them and many
others for much useful discussion. Any errors are, of course, ours alone. Finally, wed like to thank the Nathan Cummings Foundation
and the Surdna Foundation for their generous support of this project.
About cows
The Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS) is a national think and do tank based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. COWS
works to promote high-road economic development a competitive market economy of shared prosperity, environmental sustainability
and capable democratic government.
Center on Wisconsin Strategy
University of Wisconsin-Madison
1180 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706
608.263.3889
www.cows.org
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this
license, visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/ or send a letter to Creative Commons,
171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
8/9/2019 Greener Skills: How Credentials Create Value in the Clean Energy Economy
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01 executivesummary
03 introduction: skills,Greenskills,
andtheneedforstandards
06 thestateofGreenskills:
credentialinGandchaos
30 Policyrecommendations: Greenerskillsand
Greenerstandards
34 conclusion
35 notes
Greener
Skills
H ow Cre d e n tials Cre ate Valu e in t h e Cle an E n e rg y E c on om y
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Even as this report delineates prominent national credentials
in selected clean energy sectors, its purpose is larger:
to suggest a more rational framework for human capital
development in a greening economy.
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executivesummary
Everyone wants to coax green shoots rom the economic badlands.
And as the promise o green jobs has generated a food o workorceinitiatives, most everyone would like to put their hands on an atlas
o green programs, skills, and credentials. But aer two years o discussion
and research, weve concluded that not only is developing a comprehensive,
comprehensible map o green credentials impossible, it isnt worth doing i
it doesnt get us closer to a coherent national system. And that is the central
argument o this paper.
We believe current excitement about the new energy economy, and concern
about national competitiveness, can be leveraged to nally achieve progress
on reorming our ractured education and training system. Not only does this
country need a ar greater investment in workorce development, but skills
particularly at the lower end o the labor market need to be delivered invery dierent ways. The priorities, as we see them, are more organization into
navigable career pathways aligned with demand; curricular modularization and
credentialing; and the integration o those social service supports necessary or
advancement.
Critical to this reorm agenda is the development o a national skill credentialing
system. This paper makes the case or such a system. We outline an American
skills agenda and call or a better, stronger, greener workorce system to
support it. We describe whats out there, ocusing on national certications
in renewable energy and energy eciency. And we conclude with a series o
policy recommendations or ederal, state, and workorce system stakeholders.
WhatWeFound
Aer siing through hundreds o clean energy credentials, one thing became
clear:All credentials are not created equal. To be worthwhile, credentials
should be: (1) meaningful in the labor market, because they have value to
employers; (2) transparent, so workers know how to earn them; and, where
possible, (3) embedded in a pathway, clearly connected to either a job or
the next level o training; (4) standardized, refecting common measures o
competence; and thus (5) portable not limited to a particular region, employer,
or institution.
Fragmentation in training systems within and across states undercuts the best
eorts o workers, employers, and communities to participate in building a
greener economy. Developing common standards and conerring commonly
recognized credentials or veried occupational skills oers a rm path orward.
For workers it provides mobility, bargaining power, and higher returns in the
labor market. For employers it provides assurance that job applicants have the
skills they need. And or consumers it provides critical inormation on the quality
o work they can expect. National standards can help guarantee both quality
jobs and quality work, in and outside o green sectors.
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2executivesummary
WhatWeRecommend
1. Leveragegreentothebroadergood,securingnationalagreementonskillstandardsandgettingseriousaboutbuildingasystemtocreateandsupportthem.
Realizing the equity promise o the new energy economy requires broad national agreement and action on the needed
reorms o our training system. One key reorm is the development o national skill standards and a system or the impartial
certication o their attainment.
2. FederalAction:Supportthosehigh-qualitynationalstandardsthatalreadyexist,andusepublicinvestmentstoencouragelocalconnectionstothem.
Wherever unctional, rst-rate skill standards exist or are emerging, the Departments o Labor, Energy, and Education,
among others, should support and advance them. These agencies need to pursue a clear and consistent approach to
standards, coordinating with each other on investments or other support and ensuring that industry inormation works its
way back through existing training and education systems.
3. StateAction:Driverationalizationthroughstateorregionalskillstandardsprocesses.
In the places where green training has already been built rom the ground up, state workorce systems should seek to link
local credentials to national standards, where they exist. But improving U.S. perormance on skills upgrading need not wait
or national systems reorm. States can work with regional industry partnerships to develop skill standards, and they should
extend such eorts to the broadest geography possible, establishing a common language o credentials in any given
labor market.
4. SystemsAction:Focusonthecoordinatedandstrategicgreeningofexistingcredentials,ratherthanrushtocreatemyriad(andredundant)newgreenjobsprograms.
Green jobs initiatives should be integrated into existing training systems. As we have consistently argued, much o the
green uture is already with us and seizing it requires us to transorm the industries and jobs we already have. Education andtraining systems do not always have to develop new diploma and degree programs, just greener ones.
5. FullCourtPress:Buildmoreon-rampstotraining,credentials,andjobsfortheworkerswhoneedopportunitymost.
Beyond skills training, green jobs initiatives must address access and upward mobility. To help workers advance rom
unemployment, disconnection, or dead-end, poverty-wage work into better, greener jobs, publically supported training
systems should only support clear, seamless, aordable career pathways to in-demand and materially rewarding
occupations, with portable credentials or credibly tested competencies. The rationale is the promise most democratic
governments make to their people: to at once maximize equal opportunity or individual advancement and minimize waste
o common resources. The current green moment oers a chance to renew that compact.
Greener Skills catalogs some prominent eorts toward standardization in renewable energy and energy eciency training,
including programs and credentials developed by:
North American Board or Certifed Energy Practitioners Association o Energy Engineers Electronics TechniciansAssociation Building Perormance Institute Residential Energy Services Network North American TechnicianExcellence Northwest Energy Eciency Council Green Building Certifcation Institute Wisconsin Regional TrainingPartnership AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department Laborers International Union o North America Centralia College Center o Excellence or Energy Technology
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introduction:skills,Greenskills,andtheneedforstandards3
Green and Greener
Just as green jobs oen turn
out to be traditional occupations
in traditional industries (like
construction and manuacturing),
and green skills are in many cases
not that dierent rom gray skills,
there is no green workorce
development system, just the same
imperect, ragmented education
and training system we had in the
gray economy. We need to make
it better, stronger, greener.
Some things are new and green,
to be sure, but the more important
point, which we make repeatedly
in this paper, is that the current
romance o things green oers a
chance to address the perennial
challenges o the existing U.S.
education and training system.
With all o this in mind, we will
reer throughout the text to
green economy, green training
etc., without the distraction o
quotation marks, and conceding
the awkwardness and sometimes
even disingenuousness o
speaking o green things as i
they were entirely discrete. We
also reely substitute the narrower
term new or clean energy
economy throughout the paper,
in line with our stated ocus on
renewable energy and energyeciency skills training.1
introduction:skills,Greenskills,andtheneedforstandards
Green jobs and the skills necessary to do them continue to
attract intense attention in this country and elsewhere,ueled by global climate change and job market collapse.
The attention is important, but uncoordinated investment in greening
the American workorce threatens to create more chaos in an already
cluttered U.S. training system. This paper assesses the state o green
training (a tumult o oen inconsistent credentials and competencies
across industries, employers, and providers); oers our normative
argument or doing better; and provides specic policy suggestions on
implementing a national credentialing system and ensuring equitable
access to it.
This report is not an inventory. It does not attempt to catalogue the ast-
emerging and rapidly evolving eld(s) o green. Even as it delineatesprominent national credentials in selected clean energy sectors, its
purpose is larger: to suggest a rational ramework or human capital
development in a greening economy, and to make the case or a national
policy o portable, transparent, consistent, industry-specic credentials
(and the state-supported pathways up to them).
While the ocus here is primarily on training in renewable energy
generation and energy eciency, the questions o credentialing they
raise have broader application. There are almost no green jobs, i by
that is meant jobs devoted only to increasing the ecient and restorative
use o our natural capital, with no destruction or waste o it o their own.
But i we are to have any uture, most jobs will need to be a good dealgreener than they are at present; almost all thats said here applies to
them. There are lessons even or those (very ew) unconcerned about
the environment, but dedicated to shared prosperity and capable,
accountable government.
Building an equitable, low-carbon economy one with opportunities or
workers at all levels to prosper and advance poses serious challenges
o demand and access. On demand, there is no denying the current
crisis in employment. But neither is there denying a longer-term increase
in demand or skilled labor. This will be driven by aging o the current
workorce; by belated national attention to our decits in energy,
transportation, and social inrastructure; and by new work requiredby transition to a new (cleaner and more ecient) energy economy.
The larger questions o access (who gets training, skills advancement,
and decent jobs) and competitiveness (how will U.S. high-road rms get
the skilled labor orce necessary to build a prosperous green uture)
can be answered most eectively and equitably by wholesale reorm o
training systems and the labor markets they supply. So while the question
o green skills motivates this report, the most essential problem to be
solved is the longstanding problem o skill and its distribution in the
American labor market in general.
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4introduction:skills,Greenskills,andtheneedforstandards
WhycRedentialsmatteR...
We will never be able to clean up the general mess o the American labor market or the specic conusion in green or greenerjobs without a stronger and broader commitment to credentials and a system o common standards that support them. In act,
some general system o skill standards is essential not just as a product, but a prod to, systemic training reorm. Done right,
everyone benets.
A competency-based credentials system, marking individual mastery o desired skills, immensely reduces employer search and
other transaction costs in hiring and promotion; reliable data on the aggregate human capital pool also acilitates planning.
The ability to demonstrate mastery o desired skills, in eect to carry a recognized credential, increases worker security on
external labor markets and, given that, fexibility in internal labor markets. Students or trainees gain clear signposts to desired
achievement, making that achievement more likely. The general public gains perormance accountability over public and private
training providers. All this leads to greater as well as more directed training eorts, improving the general human capital pool.
In the green context, the development and certication o standardized competencies can nudge energy eciency andrenewable energy industries onto the high road by guaranteeing both quality jobs and quality work.2 The ormer is essential to
realizing the equity promise o the new energy economy, the latter critical to demonstrating and capturing the benets o green
technologies. One way to get at job quality is to dene, and where possible require, a certied workorce, which can command
better wages in the labor market. The additional advantage and critical value-added, really o a certied labor orce is
that it oers some guarantee on quality o work. This is more than a question o individual return on investment. Every time a
poorly trained worker bungles the installation o, say, solar panels or even attic insulation, the public loses condence in green
innovation, eroding the countrys already tenuous political will to invest in low-carbon strategies.
...ButWestilldonthavetheskillstandaRdsto
suppoRtthemMost advanced economies have ar more elaborate, nationally recognized skill standards and credentialing systems than the
United States. In some countries (e.g., Germany) these have been longstanding; in others (e.g., Ireland) they are more recent. In
all cases, the chie dierence with the United States is that such credentials are elsewhere made available to the broad working
classes. They are not limited, as here, to proessionals (e.g., doctors, lawyers, accountants, and registered nurses), the provision o
specialized business service providers (e.g., Microso Certied, Six Sigma Black Belt), or those with the good ortune o passing
through a union apprenticeship program.
Just why this comparative dierence emerged and has persisted so long is itsel a big question, but need not concern us here. 3
Suce it to say that U.S. indierence on this is now being challenged, largely because o a generation-long stagnation in worker
incomes and atrophy o traditional means o career advancement or workers without our-year college degrees.4 To reintroduce
regular upward mobility paths, connect disadvantaged workers to the labor market and get them reward within it, reduce percapita provider training costs, show eects o training (particularly among cash-strapped public training providers), or, most
ambitiously, drive skills-based upgrading among rms, some standard way o measuring what workers know, that is accepted and
used by employers, is now generally seen as a social good.
The chie barrier to promoting this social good has traditionally been employer resistance to using skills credentials in hiring
and promotion. But this too is beginning to change, especially among more advanced rms. They are looking to reduce their
search costs or new employees and increase their condence that new hires possess at least a oundation o basic vocational
skills (both analytic and social) on which they can build. This is evident, or example, in the persistent interest in WorkKeys and
similar standardized basic skills credentials. Business is generally not prepared to do the mapping o workorce competencies
that a more skills-based workorce development system would require, or to use competencies as latter day rungs in ladders o
career advancement. In both, there is need or supportive public policy.
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introduction:skills,Greenskills,andtheneedforstandards5
theGReenmoment: cleaneneRGyandsystemsReFoRm
We have written elsewhere o the need to build greener career pathways in the new energy economy.5 Our point here is larger:a call to critical broad-based systems reorm. Beyond greening individual career pathways, the nations education and training
systems need to coordinate their products (credentials) and process (bridges and pathways), making them both accessible and
useul to low-wage workers; worthwhile to unemployed adults shiing occupations and others at advanced stages o single
careers; and, in the context o a cleaner and more ecient economy, meaningul to clusters o employers in key green industries.
We believe current excitement about the new energy economy, and concern about national competitiveness, can be leveraged
to nally achieve progress on more generally needed reorms o our ractured education and training system. Not only does
this country need a ar greater political and material investment in workorce development, but skills particularly at the lower
end o the labor market need to be delivered in very dierent ways. The priorities, as we see them, are more organization into
navigable career pathways aligned with demand; curricular modularization and credentialing; and, or those who need them,
integration o social service supports to make advancement possible.
Critical to this reorm agenda is the development o a national skills credentialing system.
A coherent skills agenda would entail:6
1. Mapping regional labor markets by skills, jobs, and careers, and providing the public with a clear way o seeing the
skills needed or dierent jobs and career pathways;
2. Modularizing training (breaking it into chunks), with each module delivering a certain competency or set o
competencies, dierent jobs or careers described by dierent clusters o such modules, and movement rom any
particular module to any other possible through a series o incremental moves;
3. Making training demand-driven (that is, tied to real labor market demand), with its supply inormed by high quality and
continuously revised inormation on labor market conditions;
4. Oering training in any way needed to maximize access (e.g., online, at night, on weekends, at distance, in eld settings
as well as classrooms);
5. Certiying skills through testing, with such demonstration indierent to the source or means o skill acquisition (i.e., i
someone with no ormal training can pass the test, more power to them);
6. Aligning certied skills with employer-recognized skill standards, at least implicitly tied to compensation;
7. Removing income as a barrier to training through need-based scholarships or individual loans;
8. Providing wrap-around social services to urther maximize access.
Such a system all the dierent parts o which have been demonstrated somewhere in the U.S., but nowhere all at once
would give workers knowledge o the skills they need to succeed, income-indierent access to them, and some assurance o
payo. This would make labor market mobility much more clearly a unction o ability and eort, not race or class or gender
hardly an equal opportunity paradise, but a lot closer to one than what we have at present.
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thestateofGreenskills:credentialinGandchaos
Lack o coordination in training systems within and across states undercuts the best eorts o workers, employers, and
consumers to participate in building a greener economy. In green initiatives as in traditional workorce development, thedisjointed, local nature o training systems pushes hard against the need or standardization and portability. I anything,
the rush to green training in recent years has magnied the problem o ragmentation.
In the vast universe o potentially green endeavors, the clean energy sector alone involves an enormous range o technologies,
industries, and occupations, some new, some traditional. A welter o programs oered by unions, technical and community
colleges, trade organizations, community groups, and just about anyone hanging out a shingle oer a variety o green
credentials, ew o them aligned or standardized, even within a given system. Between a our-hour continuing education
workshop and a our-year cra apprenticeship lies a wealth o oen sel-dened credentials. Developing common standards and
conerring commonly recognized certicates or occupational skills oers a rm path orward.
This section reaches into a throng o competing skills benchmarks that dier by industry, employer, and training provider, and
lis up a ew promising examples o standardization. These include national certications or careers in renewable energyand energy eciency larger standards that can be employed by a wide variety o local stakeholders and local certicate
programs that could be used as a system model, particularly at the entry level.
Describing the core array o certications and skill standards or workers in clean energy sectors is a key contribution o this
report and the primary work o this chapter. First, however, we discuss terms and methods, and oer a ew observations on what
we ound as we built our list.
teRms
A credential is a ormal acknowledgement o a particular level o training in a particular eld an applied associate degree,
or example, or a continuing education certicate, or a journey card. Certication reers to a voluntary system o standards,usually set by key stakeholders and subject matter experts, that practitioners can choose to meet in order to demonstrate
accomplishment or ability in their proession. A seemingly picayune but actually critical distinction particularly in the context
o standardizing credentials or clean energy occupations lies between certicate and certication. The American National
Standards Institute (ANSI) observes that while the terms are oen used synonymously,
Certication is more comprehensive and necessarily includes an assessment of an individuals knowledge, skills, and
abilities based on a body of knowledge pertaining to a profession or occupation. In comparison, certicate programs
emphasize learning events and coursework completion. Certication is valid for a specic time period and involves
recertication at the expiry of the stated period. Certicates are generally issued for life.7
Unlike licensure, a orm o regulation, the system o skill standards benchmarked by certication is not mandatory and does
not vary on a state-by-state basis (a great benet to workers, who then dont need to gain a new certication i they move to a
new state). It is conerred to the individual and should not be conused with accreditation, which is awarded to educational
institutions or programs or courses o study that meet instructional standards.8 The Institute or Sustainable Power Quality
(ISPQ), or example, tries to ensure that renewable energy technicians are trained to a common standard by establishing metrics
or related programs and certiying their instructors. In the United States, ISPQ standards are maintained and implemented by
the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). To complete the circle o accountability, organizations that award certications
should themselves be accredited.
The American National Standards Institute accredits personnel certiying agencies like the North American Board o Certied
Energy Practitioners (NABCEP), the Green Building Certication Institute (GBCI), and North American Technician Excellence
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(NATE), all discussed in the ollowing pages to an international standard,
including issues o governance, disclosure, airness to candidates, and non-discrimination.9 ANSI and like-minded organizations, like IREC, call or a sturdy
rewall between training and certication. A neutral third-party is necessary
to identiy current skill sets, design valid assessments, and veriy competency
therein lies the value (and the time, expense, and perceived trouble and/or
exclusivity) o national certications.
methods
We make no claims to comprehensiveness: this report is not the result o a ormal
survey, nor does it oer a panoptic map o clean-energy certications, much less
clean or green credentials in general. Rather, to understand the nations training
system in the context o its green credentials, we compiled a sprawling almanac,
populated with inormation gleaned rom technical college course catalogues,
apprenticeship directories, community program descriptions, certication
guidelines, industry standards, and a slew o related reports and analysis. Then we
talked to experts in and outside o the workorce system.
As a result, while we havent gathered every green or greening credential out
there, we do report on those that are most amiliar to people working in renewable
energy and energy eciency.10 And while we have not vetted the eatured
certications to determine which is best on any number o measures, we do come
to conclusions about which directions seem most promising.
One initial challenge in the research was simply to identiy, understand, and
categorize the many parties with a stake or interest in green-related training:
educational institutions, workorce intermediaries, community-based organizations,
industry and trade groups, independent certiying bodies, governmental and
non-governmental initiatives, etc. Our next task was to narrow the scope o inquiry,
ocusing on national certications or clean energy skills, as well as a handul o
local or system-specic eorts at standardization. Our goal was not to report on
the latest, sexiest green training program, but to elevate credentials or standards
that could inorm workorce system reorm or the long haul.
Outlining the undamental installation and operations credentials in the relatively
recent (and circumscribed) renewable energy industry, limited here to solar, wind,and geothermal, was airly straightorward; parsing the more established energy
eciency sector where building design, unction, construction, inspection,
retrot, and management oer a booming but crowded and conusing eld o
green credentials proved more dicult.
Its worth noting that the challenge o presenting these in some meaningul order
in this report mirrors the complexity o raming national skill standards. What is
the organizing principle: Industry sector? Occupation? Educational attainment or
technical prociency? Technology?
In green initiatives,as in traditionalworkforcedevelopment, thedisjointed, localnature of trainingsystems pusheshard againstthe need forstandardizationand portability.
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8thestateofGreenskills:credentialinGandchaos
In the course o exploring this universe o existing and emerging certifcations related to clean energy
occupations, we were struck by a handul o signifcant i pedestrian points that may move us closer to
a ramework or how to think about our ractured training system. We run through them here, beore
diving into the weeds, because they are worth thinking about, and may help rame the national green
credentialing discussion better than any compendium o programs.
1. All credentials are not created equal
To be worthwhile, credentials should be:
Meaningfulinthelabormarket,because they have value to employers;
Transparent,so workers know how to earn them;
Where possible, embeddedinapathway,clearly connected to either a job or the next level o training;
Standardized,refecting common measures o competence; and thus
Portable not limited to a particular region, employer, or institution.
2. Certications typically serve advanced professionals
Most national certications, with standardized skill sets and third-party verication, operate at the high end o the labor
market. This has always been true, since this is where the money and attention lies in the United States. In existing
industries, certication has typically accompanied advanced achievement in the proessions (e.g., medicine, law, nance).
Doing it right is time-consuming and expensive (the ANSI process, described elsewhere in this paper, can take up to
two years). So, while promising eorts are now underway to rationalize pre-apprenticeship in the building trades, anda number o clearly articulated standards or technicians have emerged, many clean energy certications, particularly
on the renewable side, are or advanced proessionals: architects, designers, and engineers with either postgraduate
training or a two- or our-year degree combined with many years o experience.11
3. Clean energy credentials defy organization
Even up this ar slope o clean energy pathways, career-advancing credentials are not clearly delineated. The
certications we ound, in act, dey organization. Again, multiple organizations and industries run across a host o
training systems and institutions. As the examples that ollow illustrate, some target occupational level (e.g., engineers
or technicians); some ocus on technologies (in renewables, eciency, or both). Some oer third-party verication, many
have alliances with particular training providers, all claim recognition by key industry leaders.
4. National standards can transcend the tangle of local workforce systems
The most useul models allow workers across a variety o training systems to earn certication in a particular industry
sector, based in most cases on a given technology. The clearest example is the North American Board o Certied
Energy Practitioners (NABCEP), which certies solar installers rom a variety o training systems (joint apprenticeship
training committees, community and technical colleges, community-based organizations, etc.) once they have
demonstrated prociency in the eld and passed the requisite examination.
WhatWeleaRned
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thestateofGreenskills:credentialinGandchaos9
5. Skill development needs to be rationalized at all levels
One criticism o such certications as oen levied against MSSC as NABCEP is that they set too high a bar.
But many proessional certications are intended to be a career capstone. The answer is not to lower the bar, but to
establish common intermediate benchmarks, and to build better on-ramps, particularly at the bottom. The challenge isto get more people particularly the poor and the working class up and over. Doing so requires, among other things,
organizing and aligning a transparent, accessible sequence o career-building credentials. This is critical i we are to
realize both the equity and the material promises o the new energy economy. O course it is not realistic to have all
green programs seek ANSI accreditation. But the process and the standardization that provides its value can be
mimicked at the state or regional level.12
6. Standardization can start locally
Indeed, improving the comparatively dismal U.S. perormance on skills development and upgrading need not wait or
the development o national skill standards and aligned certications in clean energy occupations. Local institutions can
think beyond local labor markets even as they establish locally relevant programs. Because registered apprenticeship
programs are a ulcrum or workorce development in the clean energy economy, labor unions should continue to (a)
align training with national industry standards in emerging technologies; and (b) gure out how to rationalize on-
ramps through legitimate pre-apprenticeship programs designed to expand and diversiy recruitment. For their part,
community and technical colleges need to avoid the pitalls o excessive customization, with its counterproductive
short-term orientation, and to protect the mobility o workers that comes rom broad and certiable occupational
qualications.
7. Assessment matters
A system o standards isnt much use without a system o assessment. And as credentialing becomes more
sophisticated, it makes sense in many cases to segregate the verication o worker competencies rom the training o
related skills. Developing a certication is a long, slow process. It requires a signicant budget, legal support, subjectmatter expertise, and industry cooperation. But without taking the time and trouble o establishing (and using) a ully
vetted, neutral, third-party evaluation, certication programs cannot necessarily guarantee impartial assessment, and
the associated credential can lack reliable meaning or both consumers individuals, business, government
and employers.
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10thestateofGreenskills:credentialinGandchaos
Our list, divided roughly into renewables and eciency, starts with the classic North American Board or Certied Energy
Practitioners (solar and, under development, small wind); continues with another well-established group, the Association oEnergy Engineers (geothermal, though also, and primarily, building science/energy eciency); and moves on to preview some
new oerings rom the Electronics Technicians Association (combined solar, wind, geothermal). Because there is no national
certication or utility-scale wind (though the new Washington State skill standards or wind technicians are discussed later in
this document) we proceed to what are largely energy eciency certications.
On building eciency, we trolled a roiling sea o credentials and pulled out a number o key national certications. These
include, in no particular order, the sometimes inter-related residential eciency credentials rom the Building Perormance
Institute, Residential Energy Services Network, and North American Technician Excellence; the commercial Building Operators
Certication, developed by the Northwest Energy Eciency Council; and the LEED-based Green Building Certication
Institute.13
nationalceRtiFication
Individual proessional certication or workers may be oered by an international or national governing body, like the North
American Board o Certied Energy Practitioners. It can also begin with a local initiative, as in the early attempt o Iowas
community colleges to establish a nationally recognized certication or biouels training.14 In other cases, a de acto gold
standard exists, typically dened by a local institution working in concert with industry. Energy programs at the Bismarck State
College National Energy Center o Excellence, or example, are recognized by operators, utilities, and unions around the
country, and attract students rom 50 states.15
What ollows is a brie survey o some prominent national certications or workers in emerging clean energy industries; the
subsequent section provides examples o local institutions making change that could work at a national level.
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thestateofGreenskills:credentialinGandchaos1
North American Board of Certied Energy Practitioners (NABCEP)
The solar sector currently oers the most advanced certication model or renewable energy occupations. The North American
Board o Certied Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) has completed task analyses or two key occupations in this sector: solar
electric (photo-voltaic) system installers and solar thermal system installers. (NABCEP has also completed task analysis or small
wind, but does not yet certiy practitioners).16 A ormal task analysis, which identies an occupations critical tasks, knowledge,
and skills, unctions as a oundational document or credentialing assessment and provides the learning objectives or curriculum
development. NABCEP used its task analyses to build and launch a certication program that provides proessional certication
to a broad range o journeymen, contractors, and oremen.17 In addition, NABCEP developed an entry-level exam program or PV
systems, aimed at workers interested in getting into the eld.
The advantage o NABCEP is that the Board recognizes a variety o pathways into a solar career, and oers a wide variety o
experience and training combinations to qualiy to sit or its twice-yearly exams. The proessional installer credentials set a very
high bar, and are intended to recognize advanced skill and knowledge in the eld, serving as an indicator o excellence (andongoing skill development) or experienced installers. The entry-level PV exam sits at the other end o the training spectrum,
NABCEP Certifcation Requirements
PV Entry Level Exam Program Taking a course rom a registered provider.
For the list o providers:
www.nabcep.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/RegisteredProviders09162009.pd
PV Installer Certifcation Experience installing PV systems occurring at some point in the two years prior to
submitting an application or the exam in addition to completion o a Board-recognizedtraining program; OR
Be an existing licensed contractor in good standing in solar or electrical construction-
related areas with experience installing PV systems occurring at some point in the two
years prior to submitting an application or the exam in addition to completion o a
Board-recognized training program; OR
Four years o electrical construction-related experience working or a licensed
contractor, including experience installing PV systems occurring at some point in the
two years prior to submitting an application or the exam in addition to completion o a
Board-recognized training program; OR
Three years experience in a U.S. Dept. o Labor-approved electrical construction tradeapprentice program, including experience installing PV systems occurring at some
point in the two years prior to submitting an application or the exam in addition to
completion o a Board-recognized training program; OR
A two-year electrical construction-related, or electrical engineering technology, or
renewable energy technology/technician degree rom an educational institution or
our-year construction-related or engineering degree rom an educational institution,
including experience installing PV systems occurring at some point in the two years
prior to submitting an application or the exam.
Table1
NorthamericaNboardofcertifiedeNergypractitioNers (Nabcep) certificatioNrequiremeNts
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12thestateofGreenskills:credentialinGandchaos
NABCEP Certifcation Requirements
Solar Thermal Installer Certifcation Four years o experience installing Solar Hot Water Systems; OR
Two years o experience installing Solar Pool Heating Systems in addition to
completion o a Board-recognized training program; OR
Two years o experience installing Solar Thermal Systems in addition to completion o
a Board-recognized training program; OR
Be an existing licensed contractor in good standing in solar or construction-related
areas with one year o experience installing Solar Thermal Systems; OR
Four years o HVAC, mechanical, pipe-tting, or plumbing-related experience working
or a licensed contractor, including one year o experience installing Solar Thermal
systems; OR
Three years experience in a government/trade union-approved construction trade
apprentice program, including one year o experience installing Solar Thermal
Systems; OR
A two-year construction-related, or engineering technology, or renewable energy
technology/technician degree rom an accredited educational institution plus one year
o experience installing Solar Thermal Systems; OR
A our-year engineering degree rom an accredited educational institution, including
one year o experience installing Solar Thermal Systems; OR
NABCEP Solar PV Installer Certication; ANDSixteen hours o Board-recognized training; AND
Installation o at least two solar hot water systems. These two systems require
permitting and inspection process by a permitting authority, but in the absence o
such, an appropriate underwriter is authorized to provide an inspection certicate.
In regions where neither o these inspection options exist, the Application Review
Committee will judge experience based on supplied documentation.
marking completion o a standardized instructional program in basic concepts and skill sets or PV installation. This is abenchmark o sorts, rather than a proessional certication. NABCEP oers no intermediate credentials, although many o these
are actually traditional credentials that can be earned within a particular training system an applied associate degree, or
example, or an electricians journey card.
Organizations training or some or all o NABCEP certications include regional leaders like Solar Energy International (CO), the
Midwest Renewable Energy Association (WI), and the Florida Solar Electric Center. Other accepted instructional paths include
college and university programs, ormal apprenticeships (JATCs are requent partners here), and manuacturer training.
Table1continued
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thestateofGreenskills:credentialinGandchaos1
Association of Energy Engineers (AEE)
The Association o Energy Engineers (AEE), an international society whose certications are recognized by USDOE and USAID,among others, has by ar the most clearly articulated and elaborate set o technical certications or clean energy occupations.
To an even greater degree than NABCEP solar installation credentials, AEE certications in energy and building management
are aimed at highly educated, deeply experienced practitioners. Candidates must take AEE preparatory seminars and sit or
a rigorous examination, ollowed by demonstration o continuing education and skill development. While these are excellent
standards that promote expertise in the eld, this Olympian view oers little perspective on establishing and coordinating
benchmarks or individual training programs.
AEE Certifcation Requirements
Certifed Energy Manager A our-year engineering or architectural degree, or a registered Proessional Engineer(P.E.) or Registered Architect (R.A.), with at least three years experience in energy
engineering or energy management; OR
A our-year business or related degree, with at least ve years experience in energy
engineering or energy management; OR
A two-year technical degree, with eight years experience in energy engineering or
energy management; OR
Ten years or more o veried experience in energy engineering or energy
management.
Certifed Sustainable Development
Proessional
A our-year engineering or architectural degree rom an accredited university or
college and/or the current status o P.E. or R.A. or Certied Energy Manager (CEM),
with at least three years veried experience in energy eciency and pollution
prevention, or sustainable development; OR
A our-year degree in business or related degree rom an accredited university or
college, with at least ve years veried experience in energy eciency and pollution
prevention, or sustainable development; OR
A two-year technical degree rom an accredited college, with at least eight years
veried experience in energy eciency and pollution prevention, or sustainable
development; OR
Ten years or more o veried experience in energy eciency and pollution prevention,or sustainable development.
Certifed Carbon Reduction
Manager
A our-year engineering or architectural degree, and/or the current status o Certied
Energy Manager (CEM) in good standing; OR
A our-year business or related degree, with at least three years experience in energy/
carbon management; OR
A two-year technical degree, with at least ve years experience in energy/carbon
management; OR
Eight years or more o veried experience in energy/carbon management.
Table2
associatioNofeNergyeNgiNeers (aee) certificatioNrequiremeNts
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14thestateofGreenskills:credentialinGandchaos
AEE Certifcation Requirements
Certifed Energy Auditor A our-year degree rom an accredited university or college in engineering or
architecture, or be a registered Proessional Engineer (P.E.) or Registered Architect(R.A.). In addition, the applicant must have at least three years o veriable experience
in energy auditing, energy management, acility management, or experience related to
energy management; OR
A our-year non-engineering degree, with at least our years o veriable experience in
energy auditing, energy management, acility management, or experience related to
energy management; OR
A two-year technical degree, with at least ve years o veriable experience in energy
auditing, energy management, acility management, or experience related to energy
management; OR
Ten years o veriable experience in energy auditing, energy management, acility
management, or experience related to energy management; OR
The current status o Certied Energy Manager (CEM).
Certifed Building Commissioning
Proessional
A our-year degree rom an accredited university or college in science, engineering,
architecture, business, law, nance, or related eld, or be a registered Proessional
Engineer (P.E.) or Registered Architect (R.A.). In addition, the applicant must have at
least three years experience in HVAC or process engineering design, architecture,
construction project management, acilities management, testing, adjusting and
balancing, or building commissioning; OR
A two-year technical degree, or our-year non-technical degree rom an accredited
university or college in a eld not specied above, with ve years experience in HVACor process engineering design, architecture, construction project management,
acilities management, or testing, adjusting and balancing, or building
commissioning; OR
Ten years or more o veried experience in HVAC or process engineering design,
architecture, construction project management, acilities management, or testing,
adjusting and balancing, or building commissioning; OR
The current status o Certied Energy Manager (CEM).
Certifed Business Energy
Proessional
A our-year degree rom an accredited university or college in business/marketing,
engineering or architecture, or be a registered Proessional Engineer (P.E.) or
Registered Architect (R.A.). In addition, the applicant must have at least two years oexperience in business/marketing/management/sales in the energy eld; OR
A our-year non-technical degree rom an accredited university or college, with at least
three years experience in business/marketing/management/sales in the energy
eld; OR
A two-year technical degree rom an accredited college, with at least ve years
experience in business/marketing/management/sales in the energy eld; OR
Eight years o experience in business/marketing/management/sales in the energy
eld; OR
The current status o Certied Energy Manager (CEM).
Table2continued
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thestateofGreenskills:credentialinGandchaos1
AEE Certifcation Requirements
Certifed Measurement and
Verifcation Proessional
A our-year degree rom an accredited university or college in science, engineering,
architecture, business, law, nance, or related eld, or be a registered ProessionalEngineer (P.E.) or Registered Architect (R.A.). In addition, the applicant must have
at least three years experience in energy or building or acility management, or
measurement and verication; OR
A two-year technical degree or a our-year non-technical degree rom an accredited
university or college in a eld not specied above, with ve years experience in energy
or building or acility management, or measurement and verication; OR
Ten years or more o veried experience in energy or building or acility management,
or measurement and verication; OR
The current status o Certied Energy Manager (CEM).
Certifed Energy Procurement
Proessional
A our-year degree rom accredited university or college in science, engineering,
architecture, business, law, nance, or related eld, or be a registered Proessional
Engineer (P.E.) or Registered Architect (R.A.). In addition, the applicant must have
at least three years experience in energy or building or acility management, or real
estate, or procurement, or brokering; OR
A two-year technical degree or a our-year degree in a eld not specied above, with
ve years experience in energy or building or acility management, or real estate, or
procurement, or brokering; OR
Ten years or more o veried experience in energy or building or acility management,
or real estate, or procurement, or brokering; OR
The current status o Certied Energy Manager (CEM).
Certifed Lighting Eciency
Proessional
A our-year engineering or architectural degree rom an accredited university or
college, and/or be a registered Proessional Engineer (P.E.), and/or a Registered
Architect (R.A.), and/or a Certied Energy Manager (CEM), with at least three years
experience in lighting eciency; OR
A our-year business or related degree rom an accredited university or college, with at
least ve years experience in lighting eciency; OR
A two-year technical degree rom an accredited college, with eight years veried
experience in lighting eciency; OR
Ten years or more o veried experience in lighting eciency.
Distributed Generation Certifed
Proessional
A our-year degree in science, engineering, architecture, business, law, nance, or
related eld and/or be a registered Proessional Engineer (P.E.), with at least three
years experience in cogeneration or distributed generation; OR
A two-year technical degree or a our-year non-technical degree, with at least ve
years experience in cogeneration or distributed generation; OR
Ten years or more o veried experience in cogeneration or distributed
generation; OR
The current status o Certied Energy Manager (CEM).
Table2continued
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16thestateofGreenskills:credentialinGandchaos
AEE Certifcation Requirements
Certifed Green Building Engineer A Proessional Engineering (P.E.) License (*U.S. only) AND a Certied Energy Manager
(CEM) registration.
Certifed GeoExchange Designer A our-year engineering degree and/or be a registered Proessional Engineer (P.E.),
and/or a Registered Architect (R.A.), with at least three years o combined experience
in the commercial geothermal heat pump design and heating, ventilating, and air
conditioning eld; OR
A our-year non-technical degree, with at least ve years o combined experience
in the commercial geothermal heat pump design and heating, ventilating, and air
conditioning eld; OR
A two-year technical degree, with at least eight years o combined experience in the
geothermal heat pump design and heating, ventilating, and air conditioning eld; OR
Ten years or more o veried combined experience in the commercial geothermal heat
pump design and heating, ventilating, and air conditioning eld.
Certifed Power Quality Proessional A our-year engineering degree and/or be a registered Proessional Engineer (P.E.),
with at least three years experience in power quality, energy or building or acility
management, or electrical design, engineering or contracting; OR
A our-year non-engineering degree, with at least ve years experience in power
quality, energy or building or acility management, or electrical design, engineering, or
contracting; OR
A two-year technical degree, with ve years experience in power quality, energy or
building or acility management, or electrical design, engineering, or contracting; OR
Ten years or more o veried experience in power quality, energy or building or acility
management, or electrical design, engineering, or contracting; OR
The current status o Certied Energy Manager (CEM).
Table2continued
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Building Performance Institute (BPI)
Founded 25 years ago as an independent third party aiming
to veriy worker skills in weatherization and the building
trades, the Building Perormance Institute (BPI) now oers an
integrated certication, accreditation, and quality assurance
program that works with local training aliates around the
country to certiy building perormance technicians.
While there are no ormal prerequisites or BPI certication,
the Institute strongly recommends that candidates have
some training and experience in the building perormance
industry beore attempting the exams. BPI certies a workers
competence to optimize building perormance in a particulararea, and the credentials are not designed to substitute or
trade training and certication in service and installation skills.
18thestateofGreenskills:credentialinGandchaos
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thestateofGreenskills:credentialinGandchaos1
Table4
buildiNgperformaNceiNstitute (bpi) certificatioNrequiremeNts
BPI Certifcation Requirements
Building Analyst Proessional 100-question written examination and eld examination. Candidates need to
master BPIs Knowledge Essential Task List (KETL) a comprehensive list o related
knowledge, skills, and tasks, rom building science to proessional ethics; OR
HERS Certication (see RESNET); AND
BPI Building Analyst Proessional 50-question written examination; AND
BPI Building Analyst Proessional eld examination.
Envelope Proessional 100-question written examination and eld examination; OR
Any other BPI Certication; ANDBPI Envelope Proessional 50-question written examination; AND
BPI Envelope Proessional eld examination.
Manuactured Housing Proessional 100-question written examination and eld examination; OR
Any other BPI Certication: AND
BPI Manuactured Housing Proessional 50-question written examination; AND
BPI Manuactured Housing Proessional eld examination.
Heating Proessional 100-question written examination and eld examination; OR
Any other BPI Certication; AND
BPI Heating Proessional 50-question written examination; AND
BPI Heating Proessional eld examination; OR
NATE Heating Service Certication (See NATE); AND
BPI Heating Proessional 50-question written examination; AND
BPI Heating Proessional eld examination.
A/C or Heat Pump Proessional 40 CFR Section 608 Type II or Universal; AND
BPI A/C or Heat Pump Proessional 50-question written examination; AND
NATE AC Service or NATE Heat Pump Service (See NATE) 100-question written
examination; AND
BPI A/C or Heat Pump Proessional eld examination.
Multi-Family Building Analyst
Proessional
Certication model or multi-amily buildings (typically 5+ residential units) is not ully
articulated online at this time.
Energy Ecient Multi-Family
Building Operations Specialist
Certication model or multi-amily buildings (typically 5+ residential units) is not ully
articulated online at this time.
Multi-Family Hydronic Heating
System Design Proessional
Certication model or multi-amily buildings (typically 5+ residential units) is not ully
articulated online at this time.
Multi-Family Advanced Heating Plant
Technician
Certication model or multi-amily buildings (typically 5+ residential units) is not ully
articulated online at this time.
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North American Technician Excellence (NATE)
North American Technician Excellence (NATE) is an industry organization that certies heating, ventilation, air conditioning,
and rerigeration technicians.18 Parsing skills into 21 Knowledge Areas o Technician Expertise (KATEs), NATE oers certication
exams or installation, service, and senior technicians. Specialties are: Air Conditioning, Air Distribution, Air-to-Air Heat Pumps,
Gas Furnaces, Oil Furnaces, Hydronics Gas, Hydronics Oil, Light Commercial Rerigeration, and Commercial Rerigeration.
Senior technicians are certied HVAC eciency analysts.
NATE Certifcation Requirements
Installation Technician Core installation exam; AND
One specialty exam; AND
No ormal pre-requisites, though NATE suggests some technical training and one year
o experience to pass tests, which are based on applied knowledge.
Service Technician Core service exam; AND
One specialty exam; AND
No ormal pre-requisites, though NATE suggests some technical training and two
years o experience to pass tests, which are based on applied knowledge.
Senior Technician:
HVAC Eciency Analyst
Pass a 100-question test or HVAC Eciency Analyst Senior; AND
Candidate shall hold two certications by NATE in Service Sector Specialties; AND
Five years experience (suggested).
Table6
NorthamericaNtechNiciaNexcelleNce (Nate) certificatioNrequiremeNts
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22thestateofGreenskills:credentialinGandchaos
Building Operators Certication (BOC)
Designed or commercial building operators, Building Operators Certication (BOC) is a proessional continuing education
program created by the Northwest Energy Eciency Council. BOC certication ollows competency-based training and
assessment at sites across the country, including technical colleges, utility-unded programs, and regional training institutes.19
The programs which upgrade participants skills in, e.g., electrical, HVAC and lighting systems; indoor air quality; environmental
health and saety; and energy conservation target a variety o career levels, rom engineers to energy managers, technicians
to architects.
BOC Certifcation Requirements
Building Operator CertifcationLevel I
Completion o eight one-day classes and an accompanying series o acility-basedprojects, AND passing the BOC exams;
Candidates must also have:
A high school diploma or GED; AND
Two or more years o experience working in operations and maintenance o a
commercial or institutional acility; OR
A high school diploma or GED; AND
A minimum o one year o experience working in operations and maintenance o a
commercial or institutional acility; AND
One year o technical college level education in acilities engineering related
program; OR
A high school diploma or GED; AND
Two or more years o experience in energy management o acilities with a ocus on
operations and maintenance.
Building Operator Certifcation
Level II
Completion o seven one-day classes and an accompanying series o acility-based
projects, AND passing the BOC exams;
Candidates must also have:
A high school diploma or GED; AND
A technical degree and three years o experience working in operations and
maintenance o a commercial or institutional acility; OR
A high school diploma or GED; AND
A union membership at journey level and three years o experience; OR
A high school diploma or GED; AND
BOC Level I certication and our years o experience.
Table7
buildiNgoperatorscertificatioN (boc) requiremeNts
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Green Building Certication Institute (GBCI)
While the U.S. Green Building Councils Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) manages the storied Green
Building Rating Systems, the Green Building Certication Institute (GBCI) independently administers the LEED proessional
credentialing program, including exam development, application, registration, and delivery. The separation o these two
unctions refects GBCIs commitment to objectively measuring standardized skill sets, and brings their certications in line with
the ANSI accreditation they are seeking. GBCI certication refects a high level o proessional achievement, but requires no
ormal associated training all reerences are ree and downloadable. As a stand-alone credential, the LEED Green Associate
refects GBCIs interest in developing a broad green building sector which includes, e.g., leasing agents, product salespeople,
and real estate brokers. This ground-foor credential, which signies basic knowledge o green design, construction, and
operations, is also designed as the rst step to a LEED AP. AP certication is a technical credential that requires advanced
knowledge o green building practices and specialization in a particular LEED Rating System: Operations & Maintenance;
Homes; Building Design & Construction; Interior Design & Construction; and, starting in 2010, Neighborhood Development
(recommissioning).
GBCI Certifcation Requirements
LEED Green Associate Passing the Green Associate exam; AND
Documented involvement on a LEED-registered project; OR
Passing the Green Associate exam; AND
Employment (or previous employment) in a sustainable eld o work; OR
Passing the Green Associate exam; AND
Engagement in (or completion o) an education program that addresses green
building principles.
LEED AP Passing the two-part LEED AP exam (part one is the Green Associate exam; part
two is a specialty exam based on one o the LEED Rating Systems: Operations &
Maintenance; Homes; Building Design & Construction; Interior Design & Construction;
and, starting in 2010, Neighborhood Development (recommissioning)); AND
Documented proessional experience on a LEED project within the last three years.
LEED Fellow Under development. GBCI imagines LEED Fellows as the eminences gris o the green
building eld, leading proessionals distinguished by deep and mighty contributions to
common standards o practice.
Table8
greeNbuildiNgcertificatioNiNstitute (gbci) certificatioNrequiremeNts
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24thestateofGreenskills:credentialinGandchaos
localmodels, nationalpRospects
There are lots o models around the country or, rather, there are lots o olks trying to develop renewable energy or energy
eciency curricula and train workers per industry demand. A ew are doing so in model ways (i.e., conducting labor market
studies, building career pathways, talking to labor and community and industry, etc.), including Centralia College (WA),
Lakeshore Technical College (WI), Lane Community College (OR), and Los Angeles Trade and Technical College (CA).20
Regional eorts, too, are nudging workorce systems in the right direction, like the Midwestern Governors Associations New
Energy Jobs Platorm which calls on states to align credentials across training systems and promote region-wide career
pathways.21 These eorts might seem wholly inadequate, given national employment and climate crises. But just greening local
curricula to an agreed upon industry standard, and then articulating local certicates into regionally recognized associate
degrees would be a huge improvement, as would integrating the public workorce system and support services into clearly
delineated career pathways.22
Newer technologies, like wind and solar, are more likely to drive new programs and credentials. But in many cases relatedinstallation and operations jobs, like the majority o jobs in green building and eciency retrotting, are more obviously linked to
traditional trades training. In these cases, skills critical to renewable energy and energy eciency occupations (many traditional,
a ew greener) are best delivered through the original and, perhaps, strongest career-pathway apprenticeship. It isnt the
newness o any emerging green industry (or skill set) thats hard, but aligning the on-ramps or workers, which is dicult because
the system is complex, access opaque, and requirements are, or many, a high bar (requiring, e.g., onsite experience, math,
reading, and communications skills). Add to this the poorly dened and oen disconnected range o programs called pre-
apprenticeship.23
Two o the most interesting eorts in this regard one local, one national but system-specic attempt to standardize entry-
level training or the skilled trades: The Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership (WRTP) Entry Level Construction Certicate,
and the AFL-CIO Multi-Cra Core Curriculum. Taking a more occupationally specic approach, two other initiatives are
drawing national attention or their work to standardize green skills training and assessment. Laborers International Union oNorth America (LIUNA) has developed a national model or residential weatherization training; and Washington State has been
steadily developing sound, up-to-date skill standards or energy industry jobs, including renewables. We outline these various
approaches below.
Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership:Entry Level Construction Certicate in Weatherization
The Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership (WRTP)/Building Industry Group Skilled Trades Employment Partnership (BIG
STEP) is one o the nations preeminent labor-led sector partnerships. Working with unions, businesses, community groups
and the public workorce system, WRTP/BIG STEP has helped thousands o Milwaukee-area workers oen low-income
or unemployed women and people o color connect to good jobs and build their skills while also helping dozens o local
employers connect to the skilled workers they need.
WRTP/BIG STEPs Center o Excellence oers workers a wide range o support during their preparation or construction and
manuacturing careers, including academic assessments and individualized tutoring or apprenticeship exams; pre-employment
skills training and certication; and connections to community organizations that can assist with daycare, transportation, GED
prep, job readiness, and other services.24
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thestateofGreenskills:credentialinGandchaos2
WRTP/BIG STEP CENTER O F EXCE LLENCE Supports both for Workers and Contractors
Industry-Specific Assessment of Workers
Basic Skills and Pre-Employment Training
ELCS-Weatherization Certificate (Residential)
Apprenticeship Tutoring
Referral to Support Services
Direct Hire
ETO Database (Data Collection and Reporting Capacity)
Trade Apprenticeship Positions
Entry-level weatherization job Entry-level other jobEntry-level handler/helper
C ommunity and Faith
Based Organizations
Workforce
Development
Agencies
High Schools
and
Technical C olleges
Joint
Apprenticeship
C ommittees
Master-level, Crew Leaders, Superintendents
Journey-level
Electricians Journey-level
Carpenters Journey-level
LaborersJourney-level
Sheet Metal Workers
wrtp/bigstepcareerpathways
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26thestateofGreenskills:credentialinGandchaos
In addition to helping candidates up the pipeline into its
apprenticeship-prep program, WRTP/BIG STEP helps
participants nd jobs and succeed in them. The Centero Excellence maintains a database o apprenticeship-ready
workers, and can certiy them or construction projects with
residential hiring requirements. Once WRTP/BIG STEP
participants are placed, the Center o Excellence continues
to provide individualized support and evaluation to help
apprentices advance in their careers.
This model industry partnership oers a perect paradigm or
green-collar job training. It is no surprise, then, that WRTP/BIG
STEP has an answer to the weatherization challenge posed
by the recent and dramatic increase in ederal dollars: how to
move towards ensuring both the quality o jobs and the qualityo work in the traditionally low-end labor market or residential
construction.
Working with Community Action Programs and the Laborers
Union, WRTP/BIG STEP plans to bring their experience and
skill to the growing market or energy eciency retrotting
in southeastern Wisconsin, and, hopeully, statewide. Key
components include:
initialassessmentandcommunitypaRtneRs
One key to success, according to Associate Director Rhandi
Berth, is savvy skills assessment and strong partnerships: We
are able to quickly assess the needs o the people that come
through our door whether they require essential, basic,
or technical industry skills. We work with hundreds o local
community organizations that reer those that are work-ready
to us and provide support or workers we identiy as needing
help becoming job-ready.
employeR-dRiventRaininG
WRTP/BIG STEP partners with employers and training
providers to oer appropriate curriculum or their students.
Their experience in the residential construction sector
includes preparing workers or lead abatement and asbestos
removal and WHEDA building projects. By building on that
history and coordinating with appropriate agencies and
organizations, WRTP will expand its industry-recognized
Entry Level Construction Skills (ELCS) credential to include
a weatherization component. The ELCS-Weatherization
Certicate will assure contractors that graduates have the
skills they need to satisy the high standards o the program.
leveRaGedResouRces
WRTP/BIG STEP navigates a thicket o public and privateunding systems to leverage training dollars rom state,
ederal, and industry sources. WRTP, or example, is an eligible
provider or Workorce Investment Act programs; workers can
use their Individual Training Account (ITA) vouchers or
ELCS training.
WoRkeRsuppoRt: tutoRinG & mentoRinG
WRTP/BIG STEP has developed a model mentorship program
to support workers entering the construction industry. It is
well known that new workers do better on the job when they
have the support o an experienced worker to guide and
advise them, but ew organizations run successul mentoring
programs. WRTP/BIG STEP matches every new worker with
a mentor. These mentors are senior workers whose primary
relationship with their mentee is supportive they are not a
supervisor or a trainer who may have conficted relationships
with their mentee. Mentors can spot early signs o trouble and
WRTP can then work with all parties to nd the appropriate
resources to help the mentee succeed relying on community
partners, union allies, or others, as appropriate.
The WRTP/BIG STEP commitment to helping workers enter
into lasting careers led to the development o a successultutoring program or passing apprenticeship tests. The Center
o Excellence helps workers gain the math, science, and other
skills they need to enter the building and construction trades.
Hundreds o graduates have been placed in apprenticeship
programs thanks to fexible tutoring schedules and individually
tailored curricula.
laBoRpaRtneRs
WRTP/BIG STEP has a longstanding relationship with
the Laborers Union, Local 113. That union has a residentialconstruction package rate o about $20 per hour, which
includes pension and health care benets. By working
with contractors aliated with the Laborers in residential
weatherization, WRTP can oer access to excellent training
and support or workers.25
Earning an ELCS-Weatherization Certicate can be a
gateway to a decent job in residential energy eciency, i
weatherization programs are implemented with reasonable
labor standards, or the rst step on a pathway rom residential-
sector construction to good jobs on the commercial side,
particularly in green building and retrotting.
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Laborers Interational Union of North America (LIUNA):Weatherization Training Pathways
The Laborers are tackling the challenge o residential weatherization at a national level i.e., bringing small traditional programs,
typically run by Community Action Programs, to scale; ocusing on high-road contractors to assure both quality o jobs and
quality o work; and ensuring that a dramatically expanded weatherization workorce has opportunities or career advancement
in the construction sector.
Based on a successul pilot in Newark, New Jersey, run under a Minority Outreach Program grant in partnership with the
Garden State Alliance or a New Economy, LIUNA developed a Weatherization Training Program (WTP) that they are working
to implement nationwide. The LIUNA program bees up DOEs core competencies or weatherization with greener and more
sophisticated construction skills, including environmental remediation. The comprehensive curriculum moves rom general
construction skills through environmental hazard identication and abatement to weatherization installation, testing, and
auditing. Using their sophisticated education inrastructure (70 acilities around the country as well as mobile training units), the
Laborers plan to train through their locals in partnership with community-based organizations. Prospects are good not only or
moving towards critical scale and quality o energy eciency work, but or weatherization workers to earn amily-supporting
wages or transition to other construction careers, including those in the better-paid commercial sector. In a relatively short
time rame, LIUNA/WTP can produce legions o credentialed Technician/Installers, Weatherization Supervisors, and Energy
Auditors. What is not clear at this point is how this weatherization training will link to a national certication, or i the Laborers
can otherwise position their credentials as the common currency o residential retrotting in general.
thestateofGreenskills:credentialinGandchaos2
aFl-cio: multi-cRaFtcoRecuRRiculum
The AFL-CIO Building Trades Multi-Cra Core Curriculumproposes to institute at a national level an apprenticeship
prep program similar to WRTPs Entry Level Construction
Skills program. Sean McGarvey, Secretary Treasurer o the
national Building and Construction Trades Department,
AFL-CIO, describes the Core Curriculum as an innovative
training program that provides a gateway rom high school
or community college to joint labor-management registered
apprenticeships throughout the United States. The Core
Curriculum is also designed to provide an on-ramp to careers
in the construction trades or adults exploring a career
transition. The Building Trades Core was developed as a
national industry credential by the national apprenticeship
and training directors in the construction industry to establish,or the rst time, a standardized pre-apprenticeship or entry
into any o the cras in the building trades. Given the current
slump in the construction industry, the program is only running
pilots in two Washington State skills center sites. When
economic recovery and green inrastructure development take
o, and the apprenticeship pipelines re-open, this promises to
be a welcoming, rationalized on-ramp to solid skills training or
an urban, underserved workorce that traditionally viewed the
trades as inaccessible.26
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28thestateofGreenskills:credentialinGandchaos
Washington State: Energy Skill Standards
Other local examples could serve not as a national model so much as an actual national standard. The Northwest Energy
Eciency Councils Building Operators Certication program, or example, has gained some national recognition as a
benchmark or quality continuing education and skills upgrading. On the renewable side, another Northwest innovator, and one
with a traditionally systematic approach to workorce education and training, is Washington State.
An established leader in skill standards development, a solid analyst o green jobs and related labor markets, and an innovator in
community college bridge programming, Washington has in recent years turned its attention to the energy industry.27 The states
Center o Excellence or Energy Technology at Centralia College ounded in 2003 to address a shortage o skilled workers in
power generation elds has made great strides in rationalizing community and technical college programs leading to energy
industry careers.
The Energy Industry Skill Standards Project convenes the states public workorce system, labor unions, community and technical
colleges, and employers to develop standards that can serve as technical benchmarks or entrance to and success in related
careers. As part o this initiative (to speciy the critical work unctions, key activities, perormance indicators and knowledge,
skills, and abilities an individual needs to succeed in certain energy-related occupations), Centralias Center o Excellence just
released a comprehensive analysis o Skill Standards or Wind Technicians.
Not only can these standards serve as national metrics, but the process itsel is a textbook case o collaborative skill standards
development. Funded by the Pacic Mountain Workorce Development Councils Workorce Innovation in Regional Economic
Development (WIRED) Initiative, the Wind Technician project was led by the Center o Excellence in collaboration with the WSU
Extension Energy Program, and included a broad swath o labor, industry, and education partners.
To map and validate the skill standards, the Wind Technician team ollowed a process mandated by the State Board or
Community and Technical Colleges, including extensive research, ocus groups, surveys, expert analysis, and industry-wide
review. Because o this, and because o the commitment and ull participation o all partners, the project resulted in a widelyaccepted, industry-driven set o (voluntary) standards that colleges and unions agree to train to (and develop curriculum or),
and that will be a baseline or ongoing discussion and continuous improvement.
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thestateofGreenskills:credentialinGandchaos2
Washingtons Industry Skill Panels bring business, labor, and education together in public-private partnerships to build a skilled
workorce in key industry sectors. The principles shaping the states energy skill standards are no dierent, including the basic
premise that experienced workers are the experts in their career eld and are best able to identiy the work perormed and the
skills, knowledge, and abilities required to be successul.28
washiNgtoNsiNdustryskillpaNels
Adapted rom Washington Work Force Training and Education Coordinating Board or Greener Pathways (COWS, 2008).
thestateofGreenskills:credentialinGandchaos2
The standards report starts with a basic job description and moves through required credentials to task and unction analyses
o routine, crisis, and long-term scenarios. It also includes the projects SCANS (Secretarys Commission on Achieving Necessary
Skills) surveys that delineate pertinent oundational abilities rom basic academic skills to problem solving, working in teams, and
the use o technology. Final skill standards include perormance indicators (how do we know when the task is perormed well?);
technical knowledge (skills, abilities, tools); and employability skills.
Skill standards establish metrics or competent perormance in a particular job or activity; they do not measure or certiy an
individual workers level o competence. To be meaningul in the labor market, industry or occupational skill standards need
to be linked to voluntary, standardized assessments and certications.29 I this can be done on a national level, creating an
assessment and certication process based on the Washington Wind Technician standard and accessible through a variety o
training systems, the pay-o, or workers and employers, would be twoold: (1) mobility, as national recognition o skill standards
in career elds provides a common basis or certiying achievement against those standards, thereby allowing or the portability
o skills across geographic areas, companies and careers; and (2) rationality, as skill standards provide benchmarks or making
education and training decisions, shaping curricula and directing unds toward highest value education and
training investments.30
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The preceding description o key existing credentials or green jobs makes
the diversity and conusion o the system evident. American labor marketsystems work against establishing the sorts o clear credentials and
training paths that would serve both the interests o employers and Americas
working class. The current hot green moment makes it clear that the general
problem is exacerbated in the context o new jobs, or hopes or them, and
increasing investment and anticipation o a new energy uture.
Already, we see the general and longstanding problems being recreated in whole
new programs being set up one community college at a time, new standards
being trained to with no jobs or the workers who complete the training,
new initiatives and investments that arent even aware o existing workorce
training inrastructure, apprenticeships being established without sucient
understanding o the scale o demand or new workers in the industry.
But it may be that some o these existing initiatives and standards could help
rationalize and align the training system or new green jobs. And thats what we
need to seize on i were going to get rom here to the green training uture that
we want to build.
Whatwouldweactuallydointheareaofgreentraining,ifwecouldjustdo
itnow?First,andalways,wedstartwithactualjobsandanationalsystem
ofskillstandardstotrainworkerswheretheyreneeded.Federal leadership
would organize the discussion between industry, labor, and education leaders
to establish broadly endorsed skill standards. The ederal departments would
have t