Through the last year, we have reiterated how vast the opportunity for workforce growth and development is in the energy sector. With the number of jobs at a constant rise, we will need to expand our resources and grow even more in order to support a clean energy economy for our country and the world. The increase in optimism and drive at the beginning of the year began to fade with the outbreak of COVID-19 and all the changes that accompanied it. However, as we continue to work towards a clean energy future, it is imperative that we continuously address our workforce issues and opportunities to result in an even stronger outcome in the end.

With many losing their jobs in the energy industry, you may be thinking how can we expand our workforce when people are getting laid off or reallocated to other roles because of COVID-19? We want to emphasize that we will not be in this space forever and planning for our future as an industry is key. It is at this point; we need to band together and increase the knowledge of energy efficiency across all industries to deliver positive outcomes. While the need and the opportunity are there, many are actively finding pragmatic solutions to these issues and one of which is the United States Department of Energy (US DOE).

The DOE’s Better Buildings initiative is consisting of leaders across all industries that are making commitments to enhance the knowledge and involvement of energy efficiency in their community’s infrastructure. The DOE acknowledged the success of this initiative and is now expanding it into a new program, Better Building Workforce Accelerator! Workforce Accelerator will “support efforts that raise the level of building science and energy efficiency knowledge in the nation’s building-related workforce. The goal is to set the U.S. on a course toward a more energy-efficient and high-performing building stock. This three-year effort will support the vision of the U.S. building workforce as a global leader in delivering quality efficiency products and services to American residents and businesses, thereby increasing energy affordability across the economy” (Better Building, Workforce Accelerator Fact Sheet)

One of the many issues we have unpacked in “Energizing the Workforce” is the lack of knowledge that many Americans have about the energy sector. Furthermore, they are unaware of the career opportunities that they can tap in to in this space. This program aims to continue to conquer that issue and increase the knowledge of career pathways in EE; leading to impactful and rewarding careers for all individuals wanting to enter this workforce. Like most sectors in the US, the EE workforce faces the following challenges (as identified by Better Buildings Accelerators): students that are unaware of needed efficiency careers, underrepresentation of women and black Americans, and employers report difficulty finding qualified workers. While there are other challenges facing the industry that are mentioned, the challenges above can be slowly resolved by widening the scope of employment and creating opportunities like the Workforce Accelerator program to increase productive employment.

How do you become involved in this program? Organizations (educators, training providers, industry practitioners, trade associations, utilities, and/or government agencies) can become Partners in the “Workforce Accelerator” by signing a voluntary agreement and identifying an organizational goal to work towards within the three-year Accelerator program. By partnering you will: Receive technical assistance from building science experts through DOE and its National Laboratories, learn from others about what works and what to avoid, demonstrate your organization’s leadership in building the future efficiency workforce and get recognized by DOE for your efforts, gain access to and provide input on resources, including guidance documents, case studies, and educational materials, that help build the efficiency workforce and engage with other Partners by sharing expertise and progress toward goals.

I know that was A LOT of information being thrown your way, but we must remember the reason for the creation of programs like this. Enhancing knowledge in our communities about Energy Efficiency will enact positive ripples through the workforce across our country.

Check out these resources below to learn more!
https://betterbuildingssolutioncenter.energy.gov/webinars/building-a-clean-energy-workforce
https://betterbuildingssolutioncenter.energy.gov/accelerators/workforce