The Energy Coordinating Agency:
Moving from “Inspiration to Implementation”
in Green Collar
Jobs By Katrina Schwartz, ECA
In recent testimony before Congress on the proposed
stimulus package, Van Jones, “Green Collar” jobs guru,
urged political leaders to start moving from “Inspiration
to Implementation”. He reminded them that it takes a
lot more than talk to actually create green collar jobs.
For the first time in decades, our President, and increasingly our Congress, is making clean energy a cornerstone of our national economic strategy, and doing so in
concrete terms of job creation, greenhouse gas reduction, and getting the U.S. back on track to be a world
leader in clean energy. Moving from inspiration to
implementation will require sustained investment in
training and workforce development.
The Energy Coordinating Agency (ECA) is a local nonprofit that has been providing energy conservation, education and bill payment assistance services for the past
twenty-five years. In anticipation of the rising demand
for energy conservation and efficiency, ECA has been
devoting more resources towards training to increase
the number of qualified energy technicians in the
Philadelphia area. ECA now offers a series of trainings
that are open to contractors and individuals interested
in increasing their skills in residential energy efficiency.
ECA is now planning to create Philadelphia’s first green
collar jobs training center at its Conservation Center in
West Kensington. ECA expects to open the doors of its
new training center to the first group of students next fall.
The center will meet the rapid increase in demand for
qualified, energy conservation and solar technicians
through on site training and collaboration with local
community colleges and technical training centers.
Trainings will be offered at a wide range of levels, from
basic to advanced classes. ECA’s principal focus will be to
prepare men and women for the new jobs in
Pennsylvania and surrounding states in residential energy efficiency and solar technologies. These will include
the national certifications such as Building Performance
Institute and RESNET. ECA plans to renovate the Training
Center to meet the LEED Silver certification level, so that
the building embodies the principles and technologies
that will be taught there. In the first full year, ECA plans
to train 200 people.
The proposed stimulus package in the U.S. House
includes $6.2 billion dollars for the Weatherization
Assistance Program (WAP) to be spent in two years. In years
past, WAP was funded at $221 million. Philadelphia is
exactly the type of city that can take advantage of this new
focus on clean energy. With thousands of unemployed men
and women, more than 400,000 energy inefficient residential buildings, almost all of which can be cost effectively
retrofitted, and an electricity rate cap about to expire,
Philadelphia stands to gain a great deal from investing in its
clean energy sector. ECA shares Van Jones’ vision that green
jobs can revitalize communities and provide living wages to
hardworking people while simultaneously addressing climate
change. ECA may serve as a model that can be replicated
across the nation.
For the schedule of upcoming trainings,
email [email protected] or go to
www.ecasavesenergy.org/training.
New Residents and HUD Secretary Help PHA Mark Opening of New Green Seniors Apartment Building
Continued from page 11
The green roof also retains heat during
winter and has a cooling effect in the
summer, reducing energy usage by
about 15%. The complex also includes
Green Label carpet (for better indoor
air quality), environmentally friendly
paints and primers, and Energy Star®
appliances and fixtures.
The low-income seniors lucky
enough to be moving in can spend
free time in a sun-drenched 3,000
12
Spring 2009
square foot community room. Those
needing a framework of daily activities can take advantage of the older
adult daily living center, scheduled
to open in early 2009.
“Locating services and housing in
the same complex has proven to be a
great success in the two other locations where we have used this model.
Working with the Pennsylvania
Department of Public Welfare, we
have put PHA on track to cost effectively meet the demand of the growing number of aging seniors in
Philadelphia,” Director Greene said.
The building’s name is a natural.
Long-time public housing resident
leader and advocate Nellie Reynolds
managed