Labor Unions partner to start Green Training Program- Massachusetts

'Green' trades jobs await training
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
By JIM KINNEY
Business writer

The Labor/Management Workplace Education Program, Carpenters Local 108, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 7 and other organized labor groups received $180,000 in federal stimulus money recently to start the program. It's part of $1 million in federal stimulus money the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development gave to six construction-trade training programs around the state.

SPRINGFIELD - Classes in a "green" building trades program run by UMass, area labor unions and contractors, won't begin for months, but organizers already have jobs or slots in more advanced apprenticeship programs lined up for 19 graduates.

"Our joint apprenticeship partners are optimistic," said Joseph F. Connolly, director of the Labor/Management Workplace Education Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

If the Springfield training goes well, Connolly said the Workplace Education Program would like to expand it to Holyoke, Amherst, Greenfield, Pittsfield and Northampton.

The Labor/Management Workplace Education Program, Carpenters Local 108, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 7 and other organized labor groups received $180,000 in federal stimulus money recently to start the program. It's part of $1 million in federal stimulus money the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development gave to six construction-trade training programs around the state. Three of the other five projects are in the Boston area, one is in Fitchburg and another is in Lowell.

Also the state Department of Energy Resources has announced $13 million in federal stimulus funding for 111 cities and towns across the state.

In the Pioneer Valley, Belchertown received a $149,812 grant to make its fire station, Lawrence Memorial Hall and its water-reclamation facility more efficient to heat and cool, according to a news release from the state. Erving will get $81,000 for a similar project at Town Hall. Middlefield received $121,278, Otis received $150,000, Ware $53,137, and Sunderland received $97,000 for similar efficiency projects.

Charlemont, Conway, Deerfield, Gill, Greenfield, Leverett, Montague, Northampton, Palmer and Shelburne all received $150,000 to pay down the cost of performance contracts. Those contracts are those where vendors do energy audits, install money-saving equipment then generally get paid out of the savings, said Lisa Capone, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Energy Resources. With these payments, the towns will be able to keep more of their energy savings in the future, Capone said.

Shutesbury will receive $56,673 for a solar power project at Town Hall. Palmer received $18,722 to install a solar hot-water heater for the offices at the town wastewater treatment plant.

All those projects would be perfect one day for graduates of the UMass program, Connolly said.

"People can go right from this program to a job, or into an apprenticeship program," he said.

Connolly said the program hopes to recruit 24 students, focusing on people with low incomes, minorities and women, in Springfield. He expects that only 19 will graduate, though.

Training will be at various Springfield locations and will be 170 hours over 10 weeks covering everything from basic math to the latest in energy technology.

"For instance we want to bring people up to UMass, there are some great things going on at UMass when it comes to green construction research," he said.

Eduardo Suarez, director of ECHO for Sustainable Development, a nonprofit that is working on the project, said construction workers in these green businesses can expect to earn $13.50 to $25 an hour.

People interested in the training should contact Suarez at (413) 335-6224 or via e-mail director@echosd.org

Jim Kinney can be reached at jkinney@repub.com

http://www.masslive.com/hampfrank/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-25/1266999308286590.xml&coll=1

Road to GREEN JOBS: DEAD END, BLOCKED, AND NO OUTLET

Green Jobs Promise Broken?

Low-Income Workers Find Road to Green Jobs Tough Going

Equal Voice, News Analysis, Claudia Rowe, Posted: Feb 10, 2010

"A year ago I was one of those saying 'Wow, this is a huge opportunity. But it can be really disappointing to find out that even the best programs can't place half their graduates," Kim said. "I don’t want to be setting people up, training them for jobs that don’t exist."

By now, the drumbeat is impossible to ignore: Job, jobs, jobs. With one in 10 adults unemployed, President Obama had little choice but to highlight jobs during his Jan. 27 State of the Union address. He mentioned the term nearly 30 times during the hour-long speech.

But among people in low-income and minority communities – millions who had felt a surge of excitement at the president’s vow to use his $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for lifting families out of poverty – the president’s words are beginning to ring hollow. For them, the mantra has shifted and it sounds like this: Track, track, track.

Despite $500 million set aside to create “green jobs” for disadvantaged workers – including a program titled “Pathways Out of Poverty” – there is no method in place to monitor exactly where Recovery Act dollars have landed on the ground, and few requirements to ensure that low-income communities benefit. Furthermore, there never were.

“This is hardly the first time that poverty has been used as a rationalization to pass a government program which – when you read the fine print – doesn’t address poverty,” said Greg LeRoy, executive director of the nonprofit watchdog group Good Jobs First. “It certainly goes to this issue of how can you tell the recovery is really benefitting those who need it most? Obviously you can’t.”

Central to the president’s stated vision for the Recovery Act was the notion that the new “green economy” – from wind turbine construction to home weatherization – would generate opportunities previously closed to the poor, and advocates like LeRoy jumped in fast, insisting that the government require states to provide data on the race, gender and residential ZIP codes of those receiving training or jobs. They also asked that employers be mandated to note employees’ work hours, pay per hour and whether health insurance benefits, if any, were included.

Not a single request was granted.

“Poverty is just the bait,” LeRoy said. “It may sound a little cynical, but that’s the truth.”

Requiring such information would be new terrain for the federal government, he acknowledged, though the complete lack of it suggests to him that all the talk about creating new pathways to prosperity was, well, just talk.

In Washington, D.C., officials appear flummoxed by the very notion of collecting such data.

“I don’t even know how you’d do that,” said Cheryl Arvidson, a spokeswoman for the administration’s Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board.

Race and Jobs: Mum’s the Word
Social-policy experts, however, have been urging exactly this kind of tracking for months – and offering ways to put it in place.

“For us, the response has been just silence, kind of a wall of silence,” said Jason Reece, a senior researcher at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University. “The administration is very shy about talking about race issues in particular, and a good way of not talking about race and marginalized groups is just don’t collect the data. It’s extremely frustrating.”

Last fall, the Kirwan Institute began to do some tracking of its own, and the results were dismal. Of $25 billion in federal stimulus funds distributed directly to private firms in transportation and defense, only $1.6 billion – just over 6 percent – went to black-, Latino-, or women-owned businesses. By January 2010, there share of the pie had dropped to 5 percent.

In Florida, where Kirwan researchers joined with activists at the Miami Workers Center to take a detailed look at the real-life effects of stimulus funding, results were similarly perplexing. Minority-owned firms received contracts worth only 12.6 percent of total value awarded in-state. And, of the 40 companies that won business funded by the Recovery Act, only four responded to Kirwan’s requests for data.

"There's this sense of desperation from local communities because they're not seeing the effects of the stimulus," said Matt Martin, a researcher with Kirwan, describing reaction to the institute's report.

And, the document noted: “Construction work tends to rely on exclusive networks. African Americans in particular have a hard time breaking into the business. This appears to be the case with the current stimulus-funded projects as well.”

Jobs are vital, of course, to reviving the economy as a whole and the estimated number of those created or saved by the Recovery Act ranges from 640,000 to 2 million, depending on who’s counting. But the notion of green jobs had been greeted as a potential godsend for families struggling against decades of entrenched poverty. A green economy could employ low-skilled workers in solid, family-wage jobs while simultaneously aiding the environment. It seemed like a win for everyone.

In Seattle, Michael Woo of the grassroots group Got Green spent last summer leading throngs of young people through blighted streets, showing them the possibilities inherent in every dilapidated home and broken rooftop.

“Everywhere they saw problems, the solution was a job – a green job,” Woo said.

He is not nearly so sure of that now.

Despite a Washington law directing that minority and low-income workers be included in Recovery Act spending, Woo – who was part of an Equal Voice coalition lobbying the state for equity – has seen little actual hiring and zero effort to track exactly who is being funneled into the jobs pipeline. Of the 10 would-be workers he selected for weatherization training, only one, Yirm Seck, found employment, and that lasted for a total of three weeks.

All Trained Up, But Nowhere to Go
The $20-an-hour job was nice while it lasted, said Seck, hired by a nonunion firm to weatherize homes in a leafy, upper-class area of Seattle. But it wasn’t quite what he’d hoped for.

“My expectations were that I’d complete the course, get certified and there would be avenues linking me to an actual job,” said Seck. “Instead, it’s ‘Hey, great, you’re certified, and, yes, there’s money here. But we can’t give you an actual date to start work.’”

Despite completing two years of college, Seck, 28, spends most of his time parenting a 3-year-old daughter while her mother supports the family by working at a Seattle supermarket. He is African American and has been without steady employment for more than two years.

“I thought the jobs program was a lot more organized,” Seck said. “But most of the people who went through those training classes still aren’t employed. I was one of the lucky few.”

The president championed a green economy to help the poor, but data from the Applied Research Center suggest that the field is “highly exclusionary.” A November 2009 report noted that blacks and Latinos – with poverty rates more than twice those of whites – are poorly represented among green workers. The disparities are even starker for women of color: Only 1.5 percent of black women were employed in green jobs. For Latinas, it was 1 percent.

“If you don’t recover the communities that have been hardest hit, there is not going to be a recovery,” said Hashim Benford, an organizer with Miami Workers Center. “We’d heard that there was going to be all this green jobs money. We had this concept of a jobs pipeline that would train people and link them up to employment. But from what I’ve seen nothing’s moving.”

There are bright spots: New Jersey, for example, requires that half of all weatherization projects be performed by workers from low-income communities. Portland, Ore., has similar mandates. And in Los Angeles, an ordinance passed last spring is expected to create at least 60 jobs for residents of low-income communities then retrofitting city building.

But such examples are few.

Green For All, a national nonprofit monitoring progress in this sector, examined energy-efficiency bills in 30 states and found fewer than a third targeted low-income communities or workers of color.

“Frankly speaking, sometimes people don’t care about the demographics – they just want to get the jobs out there,” said Vien Truong, a policy analyst with the group. “In Oakland, we have an unemployment rate of 18 percent, so it’s ‘Create green jobs – check.’”

In the Deep South, few state policymakers are even talking about racial realities behind the Recovery Act.

“Jobs for our community?” said Leroy Johnson, executive director of the Mississippi civil rights group Southern Echo. “It’s not working at all. It was all good thoughts and good policy. The problem is, it’s been left in the hands of governors. Where you have good governors, maybe you have a shot.”

Johnson says his suggestion to get black workers certified for road building through apprenticeship programs was simply waved away.

Elsewhere, trainers continue to reach out and encourage the hopeful-and-unemployed. But the longer this goes on without a job at the finish line, the more worried community organizers become.

Ian Kim, director of the Green Collar Jobs Campaign at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland, suspects there is already a glut of workers trained and ready to install solar paneling, for example, while projects to employ them linger far behind.

“A year ago I was one of those saying ‘Wow, this is a huge opportunity. But it can be really disappointing to find out that even the best programs can’t place half their graduates," Kim said. "I don’t want to be setting people up, training them for jobs that don’t exist.”

http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=16018537780e410a2e51eccb036c08f0

United Brotherhood of Carpenters accept 14 Building Futures graduates into union apprenticeships

Partnership to provide green-jobs training for R.I. workers

01:00 AM EST on Tuesday, February 9, 2010

By Philip Marcelo

Journal Staff Writer

United Brotherhood of Carpenters: accept 14 Building Futures graduates into union apprenticeships; offer green training to 150 apprentices and 100 journeymen.

PROVIDENCE — A $3.72-million federal stimulus grant awarded to the Providence Plan, a local nonprofit organization focused on social and economic advancement, will help pay for green jobs training for about 1,600 Rhode Islanders.

The “Energy Training Partnership” was developed by Providence Plan, local building trade unions, private construction companies and state and city government. It is focused on improving entry-level work-force skills in the state’s poorest urban communities.

The plan targets energy-efficient construction and retrofits and renewable electric power, two industries expected to get a boost in the coming years.

According to the grant application approved by the federal Department of Labor and Training, about $1.4 million of the grant will go to the Providence Plan to finance Building Futures, its program to help low-income urban residents gain the skills needed to enter the building and construction trades. That includes about $103,000 to convert a warehouse space in Olneyville into a training facility for Building Futures.

Another $1.8 million will go to at least six trade unions in the state. The remaining money will go to the state Association of General Contractors, $128,000, and another $261,124 will be set aside for other unions that want to develop green jobs training and job-placement programs in the future.

State leaders, including Governor Carcieri, U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and U.S. Rep. James R. Langevin, were on hand Monday at the headquarters of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Cranston to announce the start of the green-jobs training programs next month.

According to the grant application, these unions have agreed to provide these targets over the life of the two-year federal allocation:

•Laborers International Union of North America: accept 20 Building Futures graduates into union apprenticeships; offer green training to 60 apprentices and 250 journeymen.

•International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers: accept 15 Building Futures graduates into union apprenticeships; offer green training to 180 apprentices and 200 journeymen.

•United Brotherhood of Carpenters: accept 14 Building Futures graduates into union apprenticeships; offer green training to 150 apprentices and 100 journeymen.

•Ironworkers Union: accept 18 Building Futures graduates into union apprenticeships; offer green training to 100 apprentices and 100 journeymen.

•United Association of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters: accept 10 Building Futures graduates into union apprenticeships; offer green training to 100 apprentices and 90 journeymen.

•International Union of Painters and Allied Trades: accept 8 Building Futures graduates into union apprenticeships; offer green training to 50 apprentices and 100 journeymen.

pmarcelo@projo.com

http://www.projo.com/news/content/BUILDING_FUTURES_GRANT_02-09-10_9SHD261_v11.38abebb.html

Secretary Solis announced nearly $100 million in green jobs training grants

What's Hot

Secretary Announces Green Jobs Grants

On Wednesday, January 6, Secretary Solis announced nearly $100 million in green jobs training grants, as authorized by the Recovery Act. The grants will support job training programs to help dislocated workers and others, including veterans, women, and minorities find jobs in expanding green industries. Approximately $28 million of the total funds will support projects in communities impacted by auto industry restructuring. “This announcement is part of the administration’s long-term commitment to fostering both immediate economic revitalization and a clean energy future,” said Secretary Solis. The grants are built on strategic partnerships — requiring labor and business to work together. The 25 projects selected, ranging from approximately $1.4 to $5 million, are located across the country.

• Read the News Release
• Visit DOL's Green Jobs Site & Watch Video

ETA Rolls Out Green Jobs Community of Practice

The Department’s Employment & Training Administration (ETA) recently launched the Green Jobs Community of Practice (CoP). This on-line virtual community is available through ETA’s knowledge sharing and learning platform — Workforce3One.org. Green Jobs CoP will provide a platform for workforce professionals and leading green job experts to share promising practices, serve as a venue for providing technical assistance to ETA grant-funded programs, and provide a central point of communication.

• Visit the Green Jobs CoP

USGBC releases green jobs study

USGBC releases green jobs study results

The USGBC released the results of a green jobs study today at Greenbuild 2009.

Wed, Nov 11 2009 at 1:08 PM EST

Melissa Hincha-Ownby

Green building leads to green jobs. Today, the U.S. Green Building Council released the results of a green jobs study that examined the impact that the green building industry has on the nation’s economy and the growing green jobs movement. The report, prepared by Booz Allen Hamilton, determined that spending in the green construction industry helps to support over two million jobs and is responsible for more than $100 billion in GDP and wages.

As the green building trend continues to gain momentum, it is expected that the industry will help to support approximately eight million jobs by 2013. The report further breaks this down into jobs that are directly related to LEED spending. Since 2000, 15,000 jobs have been created thanks to LEED-related spending and nearly 230,000 more jobs should be created by 2013 as more green building projects look to the LEED rating systems for guidance.

So what types of jobs are being added as a direct result of spending on green construction projects? The report examined the impact that the green building industry has had on the following employment sectors:

• Nonresidential construction
• Residential construction
• Electric power generation, transmission, and distribution
• Water, sewage, and other waste treatment systems
• Waste management and remediation services

Many of the jobs that fall within these employment sectors directly impacted by the green building movement are attainable without an advanced degree. In nonresidential construction carpenters, construction laborers, truck drivers, and heavy-equipment operators are seeing employment opportunities on green construction projects.

One of the most important aspects of the growing green jobs movement is the need for good green jobs - jobs that will provide under and unemployed Americans a pathway out of poverty. The USGBC report estimates that the average annual salary for these positions listed above is just over $40,000.

This figure excludes positions like construction managers, civil engineers, and cost estimators, which all require an advanced degree. When factoring in these positions, the industry-wide average annual salary jumps to $52,200.

Between 2000 and 2008, green construction spending was responsible for 2.3 million jobs in nonresidential construction. This number is expected to jump to nearly 7.5 million jobs by 2013.

Although the green building movement is firmly rooted in the commercial industry, it is still gaining momentum in the residential sector. The USGBC Green Jobs Study predicts that there will be just over 460,000 jobs attributed to green building spending in the residential sector by 2013. This is up from the 143,000 jobs gained between 2000 and 2008.

In a time where the construction industry has been hard hit by the economic crisis, job growth in these sectors will be important in helping the nation recover from the recession.

http://www.mnn.com/business/green-jobs/blogs/usgbc-releases-green-jobs-study-results

School of Green Recovery is in session: Chicago, September 2009

LEED Workshops
September 29, 2009LEED Core Concepts & Strategies Workshop – Normal, IL
October 13, 2009Green Building Design & Construction: The LEED Implementation Process – Chicago, IL
Online AnytimeGreen Building Basics & LEED Workshop – Online
LEED Core Concepts & Strategies – Online
Intro to LEED for Homes – Online $25
Intro to LEED for Schools – Online FREE

U.S Green Building Council -Chicago Chapter
Upcoming LEED Workshops
Upcoming Events
http://www.usgbc-chicago.org/


Chapter Orientation
Thursday, September 10, 20095:00 PM – 5:30 PMGensler, 11 E. Madison, Chicago

Chapter Business Meeting
Thursday, September 10, 20095:30 – 8:00 PMGensler, 11 E. Madison, Chicago, Illinois 60602

Going Green to LEED – 1st Rockford Branch Event
Tuesday, September 15, 20095:30 PM – 8:00 PMRadisson Hotel & Conference Center, Rockford

GBCI: Credentials & Maintenance – Fox Valley Branch Event
Thursday, September 17, 20096:00 PM – 8:00 PMInteriors for Business, Batavia

Green Building: The Nuts & Bolts for Contractors
Friday, September 18, 20097:30 AM – 4:30 PMNorthwestern University, 339 E. Chicago Ave, Chicago

The Greening of Health Care, Part II
Thursday, September 24, 20098:30 AM – 2:00 PMInteriors for Business, 409 N. River St., Batavia

Emerging Green Builders Networking Event
Thursday, September 24, 20095:30 PM – 8:00 PMUncommon Ground, 1401 W. Devon, Chicago

Panduit Hard Hat Tour – South Suburban Branch Event
Friday, September 25, 20093:00 PM – 5:00 PMPanduit, 80th & I-80, Tinley Park

Green Design for School Facilities: Hubble Middle School Case Study
Monday, September 28, 20096:00 PM – 8:00 PMHubble Middle School, Warrenville

LEED Leaders & Liters: Sustainable Sites Initiative
Tuesday, September 29, 20095:30 PM – 7:30 PMNorcon, 661 W. Ohio, Chicago



Weatherization Training & Curriculum


The Chicagoland Green Collar Jobs Initiative’s Workforce Development Task Force, under the direction of Dr. Victoria Cooper, Wilbur Wright College, Environmental Technology Program with the support of Dean Robert Kelly of the Dawson Technical Institute of Kennedy-King College, are developing a Chicagoland Standardized Weatherization Training Curriculum.

Over the past two months, workforce development non-profits, educational institutions and community-based organizations have meet with Steering Committee members to discuss the skills and knowledge necessary to supply a skilled green collar workforce.

Their results have been collated and developed into the FINAL DRAFT Weatherization Curriculum which is still open for commentary and feedback. There are several ways to add your substantive comments to aid green collar development in Chicago. First, comment below; second, e-mail us or comment via Twitter. In September, a special Task Force will reconvene (with LEED Council) to discuss expanding the current 4-week pilot to 8-weeks.

What’s next With federal funding from the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the Chicago Department of Family & Support Service (DCFSS) awarded LEED Council a contract to conduct 3 classes; the first starting on September 28th. This first class will be an 8-week version of the 4-week Weatherization Pilot which happened in June 2009. Pilot curriculum is 8 weeks of technical, job readiness and financial education training. LEED Council anticipates around 45 graduates by June 2010, with most to be hired by general contractors for residential retrofitting.

We welcome comments and questions about Weatherization Curriculum and the Workforce Development Task Force, please contact us via e-mail, Twitter or Facebook

http://greencollarchicago.org/?page_id=12




Important Information in Weatherization Funding at the State and National Levels

New grant money is available for weatherization funding on both the national and state levels.

The weatherization of homes for low-income families can result in savings of 32 percent on heating bills and hundreds of dollars a year on overall energy bills, according to the Department of Energy (DOE).

National: Illinois was allocated $242,526,619 in Weatherization Assistance Program funding, 50 percent of which has already been received. After receiving the initial 10 percent for training and ramp-up activities, Illinois received $97,010,647 more on June 26, 2009 following a DOE review of our state’s comprehensive application. The final 50 percent of funds will be awarded once the state meets reporting requirements and oversight and accountability milestones, as required by the Recovery Act. This funding expands the state’s Home Weatherization Assistance Program, which is administered by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO). The funding is planned to weatherize nearly 27,000 homes, and DCEO will award money to 35 existing local agencies. Criteria used to determine which homes will be weatherized include the home owner’s poverty level, whether they are elderly or disable disabled, and the home’s fuel cost.

Important Federal updates:
There has been a change in reporting requirements. Only 40 percent of awarded money must be spent in the first year, beginning July 1, 2009 (compared to the 60 percent originally stated). In the second year, 60 percent of funding must be spent. OMB reporting requirements for the quarter ending September 30, 2009 are due on October 10.

In May the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and DOE partnered to coordinate the use of ARRA funding to eliminate barriers preventing the use of weatherization funds in public and assisted multifamily housing. The partnership will streamline the weatherization eligibility process for residents in public housing and privately owned federally-assisted units, as well as 950,000 Low Income Housing Tax Credit-financed units. A family’s income must be below 200 percent of the federal poverty level for a unit to qualify for weatherization assistance.

FAQs about Weatherization funding are online.

State: The Illinois General Assembly passed the Urban Weatherization Initiative Act, effective July 13, 2009, which seeks to increase both employment and entrepreneurship opportunities with the manufacturing and installation of low-cost weatherization materials. DCEO will administer the initiative’s $425 million, with a focus on weatherizing “owner-occupied, single family homes and multifamily (6 units or fewer) housing in census tracts with high rates of unemployment, underemployment, and poverty to ensure that residents of those communities are able to access the work as a local employment engine.” Outreach strategies will also raise awareness on the cost savings and job training opportunities associated with the program. Grants will be awarded via a competitive request-for-proposal process. All applicants must include a plan for local community engagement, including outreach at local intake centers like churches, schools, and community centers. Eligible applicants include private, public and non-profit entities. Grants will be up to $500,000 per fiscal year.

Posted: 8/24/2009 3:11:33 PM- Economic and Workforce Development - Energy and Brownfield

http://www.cmap.illinois.gov/blog_template.aspx?id=16799&blogid=872




For Immediate ReleaseContact: Susan MasselPhone: (312) 744-0757E-mail: susan.massel@cityofchicago.orgMonday, August 10, 2009

RFP issued for "green" deconstruction program

The Chicago Department of Community Development (DCD) today issued a Request for Proposals for a Deconstruction Work Services and Training Program.

The program is a year–round job training and work experience program targeted at formerly incarcerated individuals. Participants will be trained in deconstruction techniques, all relevant Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards and practices, and the operations of tools such as reciprocating saws, pallet jacks, chisels, crow bars, and hammers.
The work experience component of the program involves salvaging surface items from buildings scheduled for demolition, processing building materials for recycling and re-use, deconstructing garages, and participating in the sale of re-usable merchandise. The project period is October 1, 2009 to March 31, 2012.

The program will be administered by the City of Chicago through the Department of Community Development (DCD) and in cooperation with the Department of Buildings and the Department of Streets and Sanitation.

“This RFP addresses two of the City of Chicago’s priorities: providing job training and work experience for residents with criminal backgrounds, and deconstructing buildings and reusing the materials because of the substantial environmental benefits that the practice brings,” said David Hanson, Executive Director of Business Development Services in the City’s Department of Community Development. “This project will connect these two priorities by putting 140 formerly incarcerated individuals in a work training program salvaging items from buildings scheduled for demolition, processing building materials for re-use, deconstructing garages and participating in the re-selling of building materials. We anticipate that the project will last for two and a half years, with four cohorts of 35 participants lasting one year each, starting every six months.”

Respondents with the ability to design a comprehensive job training program that features work experience and exposure to the deconstruction field can find the RFP at www.cityofchicago.org/recovery beginning Monday, Aug. 10, 2009. Submissions are due by at 4 pm, Thursday, Sept. 10.


http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalContentItemAction.do?blockName=Planning+And+Development%2fRequests+for+Proposals%2fI+Want+To&deptMainCategoryOID=-536886353&channelId=0&programId=0&entityName=Planning+And+Development&topChannelName=Dept&contentOID=537055335&Failed_Reason=Invalid+timestamp,+engine+has+been+restarted&contenTypeName=COC_EDITORIAL&com.broadvision.session.new=Yes&Failed_Page=%2fwebportal%2fportalContentItemAction.do&context=dept



Green Building Resources and Energy Efficiency


NEW GREEN GUIDELINES FOR STATE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
New energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly guidelines for state construction projects have been adopted that will meet strict national “green” building standards, reduce the state’s energy usage, and make state buildings better for those who work in them and the area surrounding them.

Buildings consume 65 percent of our nation’s total electricity, emit 30 percent of our total greenhouse gases, and account for nearly 60 percent of total non-industrial waste in the United States.

The Green Building Guidelines for State Construction, developed by the Illinois Green Building Advisory Committee, mandate that all new state-funded building construction and major renovations of existing state-owned facilities are required to meet current Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards that are practical for that project. The Capital Development Board (CDB), which manages all state construction, repair and renovation projects, developed the new guidelines and will oversee their implementation.


Exciting new technologies combined with traditional solutions may be seen in future state building projects under the new guidelines. These could include geo-thermal climate control systems, roofs made of heat-reducing white material or covered with live vegetation (“white” and “green” roofs), photovoltaic systems to produce electricity, the use of recycled materials, nowater landscaping, and allergen-reducing ventilation and interior finishes.


Under the Green Building Guidelines, the following Illinois specific goals will apply to every project: There will be no development on prime farmland; water use will be reduced by at least 20 percent through the use of high-efficiency fixtures; and energy performance will be improved by set percentages on new and existing buildings. Other guidelines will also apply to specific projects. In addition to the guidelines, a Measurement & Verification Tool was created to help collect building and site characteristics data and building cost and performance metrics. These are important indicators in tracking and determining the building performance information.


Several state-funded building projects already underway or planned incorporate the new Green Building Guidelines. These include the recently-completed Workforce Development Center at Heartland Community College in Normal; the Integrated Bio-Processing Research Laboratory and Lincoln Hall at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; the Transportation Education Center at Southern Illinois University Carbondale; the Performing Arts Center on the Macomb campus and the Quad Cities Riverfront Campus of Western Illinois University; the Truman College Student Services Center in Chicago;


Links to other valuable info relating to green construction are available via theResources Page and the Illinois Administrative Codes page.

http://www.cdb.state.il.us/green_initiatives.shtml



Are you looking for a green job?

We’re committed to connecting green jobs seekers with potential opportunities around Chicago. This ‘go-to’ page is being developed to provide job seekers a list of external resources that can provide job listings but as the Initiative grows and develops so will this page. We also welcome resources around green jobs, and are open to adding valuable resources for your green job search. Please include these in the comment section below, and we will post relevant additions.
If your organization is hiring green collar professionals, we are in an ideal position to connect your organization with well-trained applicants. Please contact us via e-mail or Twitter.

Resources for Job Seekers
The Chicago Sustainable Business Alliance, hosts regular Sustainability Careers Workshops (some which we post to our calendar) to assist job seekers enter the sustainability sector in Chicago.

Idealist posts jobs listings in the non-profit sector — from volunteer and intern positions to full-time jobs.

NPO.net is a good resource for all thinks non-profit in the Chicagoland region. From training to jobs, they’ve got the info.

The Chicagoland Environmental Network showcases both green-collar jobs and green jobs throughout Chicagoland.

GreenCareersCenter.com has a job board and issues the Green Careers Journal.

Green Dream Jobs is also a great resource for entry level to professional.

Acre Resources Limited is a recruitment firm specializing in green jobs, with their focus being on Environmental Jobs, CSR & Sustainability and Climate Change. They have offices in Chicago and London and could help you with your search.

If you’re looking for more diversity, or assistance with the process, try Illinois Worknet or Illinois Skills Match.

CleanTechRecruits is an internet job site for employers and job candidates in the clean-tech industry, which connects employers with experienced candidates, entry-level college graduates, and interns who are interested in clean-tech jobs and renewable energy jobs.

Renewable Energy Jobs is a global green jobs and career portal for the renewable energy industry. Find the latest renewable energy jobs across the wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, bioenergy, wave, and tidal fields, as well as other emerging sources of renewable energy.

http://greencollarchicago.org/?page_id=18




Construction and Demolition
Recycling Training and Accreditation

This day-long training provides the skills to develop, manage, monitor, document and promote a
successful recycling program for construction and demolition debris. Participants receive three year
Accreditation in Construction Waste Recycling and training to obtain LEED construction waste
management points.

09/17/2009 Milwaukee, WI SE2 Conference

09/24/2009 Madison, WI City of Madison


Reserve Your Spot Today
Register on line at www.wastecap.org/training or call 414‐961‐1100
http://www.bmra.org/2009%20Fall%20Training%20Flyer.pdf

Deconstruction, Reuse, and Green Building

Sisters In The Brotherhood will be sharing GREEN BUILDING information on:

LEED CERTIFICATION TRAINING & CERTIFICATION EXAM
DECONSTRUCTION TRAINING & CERTIFICATION
WEATHERIZATION TRAINING & CERTIFICATION
GREEN BUILDING REUSE CENTERS
BUILDING CODE & BUILDING INSPECTION TRAINING & CERTIFICATION
ENERGY CODE INFORMATION
LEAD ABATEMENT TRAINING & CERTIFICATION
GREEN JOB OPENINGS & TRAINING
CONTRACTOR OPPORTUNITIES


PLUS CLASSES, EVENTS, VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES, RESOURCES:
INFORMATION IS GATHERED THROUGH NETWORKING AND PUBLIC INFORMATION.



TO SHARE INFORMATION PLEASE FORWARD INFO TO LNMALCOM@CRCCSIB.ORG
OR POST IN A BLOG, FORUM, OR EVENT ON http://sistersinthebrotherhood.ning.com/


To add a resource, use the CONNECT ME TO SISTERS IN THE BROTHERHOOD at the bottom of http://sistersinthebrotherhood.blogspot.com/


USBGC
U.S. Green Building Council
LEED CERTIFICATION TRAINING, VOLUNTEER, EVENTS
http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=1412


AFL-CIO Center for Green Jobs
http://blog.aflcio.org/tag/center-for-green-jobs/

Green Collar Blog
http://www.greencollarblog.org/



The Reuse People

TRP offers the following green services and products:
• Building donation and deconstruction • Building Materials salvage • Building Materials distribution
• Great deals on reclaimed building materials and lumber • Project management • Training • Consulting services • Reuse and recycling plans

http://thereusepeople.org/Deconstruction




http://www.delta-institute.org/
Delta Institute
53 West Jackson Boulevard
Suite 230
Chicago, Illinois 60604
(312) 554-0900
(312) 554-0193 fax
delta@delta-institute.org


The ReBuilding Exchange
3335 West 47th Street
Chicago, IL


The mission of the ReBuilding Exchange is to divert building materials from the waste stream and make them accessible to the public for reuse, protecting community health, creating jobs and saving resources. We do this through the promotion of sustainable deconstruction practices, by making used build materials available for purchase at low costs, by providing educational resources and by creating programming that builds community and rebuilds Chicago's neighborhoods.


DONATE YOUR USED BUILDING MATERIALS! Got a renovation planned or have some used building materials in your garage? Bring them to us at our retail warehouse at 3335 West 47th Street in Brighton Park in Chicago. All donations must be pre-approved. Please call or email to check on donation guidelines and acceptance policies. All donations are tax deductible.


BUY MATERIALS FOR YOUR NEXT PROJECT from the ReBuilding Exchange! Before you go buy something new for that renovation project, drop by our retail warehouse at 3335 West 47th Street and check out our inventory. You’ll find quality materials at low prices for all sorts of projects. We have appliances, lumber, doors, windows, lighting, cabinets, sinks, cast iron tubs and more!


VOLUNTEER WITH US! Volunteers are always welcome at The ReBuilding Exchange. Volunteers help organize and move building materials, reducing the flow of materials into the waste-stream and making it easier for the community to find and reuse resources.


For more information, please email us at info@rebuildingexchange.org or call (773) 847-3761.
http://www.delta-institute.org/rebuildingexchange/



Habitat ReStore Directory - United States
http://www.habitat.org/cd/env/restore.aspx



Building Materials Reuse Association
http://www.bmra.org/


BUILDING ENERGY CODES PROGRAM
http://www.energycodes.gov/implement/state_codes/state_status.php?state_AB=IL


U.S. Department Of Energy
http://www.energy.gov/


Chicagoland Green Collar Jobs Initiative
http://www.greencollarchicago.org/


Urban Habitat Chicago
http://www.urbanhabitatchicago.org/


ADD A LINK....