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Training and Employment Opportunities in Energy Efficiency
As a NYSERDA Energy $mart Communities Coordinator and convener of Retrofit NYC, the Pratt Center shares up-to-date information about training, certification and employment opportunities in the energy efficiency field.
Opportunities include:
Building Performance Institute Certification
Working in Retrofit NYC Neighborhoods
Through the Retrofit NYC Block by Block program, BPI contractors provide comprehensive energy audits to homeowners in order to pinpoint the areas of their home in which energy is being wasted, such as air leaks, poor insulation, and inefficient appliances. These audits help homeowners accurately predict energy use and savings and determine the most cost-effective measures for cutting energy costs.
Block by Block Audit Expectations:
This document describes the components that a comprehensive audit should include. We feel that each of these components is necessary in order to provide homeowners with the information they need to make informed decisions about implementing energy retrofits.
One Contractor's Story
When Pratt Center Sustainability Project Manager Wendy Fleischer came to speak at a seminar on energy efficiency she had no idea that she was about to help Dion Lewis transform his life. Lewis was an unemployed maintenance worker, a single father who'd done seasonal work for the Battery Park City Conservancy. On that job he'd begun using biodegradable cleaning products, and it opened his eyes to the idea that in his work he could be an agent to create a better environment. He also aspired to work in the building trades.
The cost of the training is fully reimbursable upon its completion, but when Lewis couldn't pay tuition in advance, Fleischer located temporary assistance through the Fifth Avenue Committee's Single Stop assistance program. In October, newly certified as a Building Analyst, Lewis was hired by the Community Environmental Center in Long Island City, one of the region's biggest energy efficiency contractors. He conducts energy audits – measuring rooms, conducting blower door tests to measure air leakage, and sealing up problem spots with caulking and insulation.
As coordinator of NYSERDA's Energy $mart Communities program for Brooklyn and Queens, the Pratt Center has been helping contractors like Lewis find their way to training in the growing field of green-collar jobs. The Association for Energy Affordability and the Center for Sustainability offer training courses for contractors at various locations in the five boroughs, with tuition of $1,245 reimbursed by NYSERDA upon completion. Those courses lead to certification by the Building Performance Institute, which is required for all contractors participating in NYSERDA energy-efficiency programs.
The Pratt Center also offers its own training programs for building owners and contractors seeking to make homes healthier, reduce energy costs and improve the environment. Managing Lean and Green is a series of workshops targeted at managers of affordable housing. The series is cosponsored by the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development and the Supportive Housing Network of New York.
