Archived and Upcoming Learning Calls
Calendar of upcoming learning conference calls and webinars in the Green For All Communities of Practice
Upcoming Calls
Pulling the Pieces Together:
Pittsburgh Approach to Growing a Viable High Road Energy Efficiency Program
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
12 pm Pacific Time / 3 pm Eastern
Pilot projects to initiate and grow city scale energy efficiency projects are moving forward across the U.S. Allegheny County (home to the City of Pittsburgh) capitalized on the resources that ARRA provided by dramatically increasing funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) to create a comprehensive program that serves homeowners most in need while spurring economic development within their metro area. On the next ECN call, GTECH Strategies, Action Housing, and the County of Allegheny will share the work of the Coordinated Weatherization Campaign partners and the resulting success in generating strong demand for services, providing career opportunities to Pittsburgh residents, and building out the contractor community to grow their energy efficiency services beyond the WAP program. Presenters will report on their results in these areas and speak to the most recent stage of program development, that of planning for on going financial self-sufficiency to continue serving their community beyond the stimulus funding.
Download Pittsburgh's Coordinated Weatherization Campaign Report.
Presenters:
- Jeaneen Zappa, Sustainability Manager, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
- Lindsay Ruprecht, Sustainable Community Development Coordinator, Action Housing
- Khari Mosely, Director of Green Economy Initiatives, GTECH Strategies
Archived Calls
Making Finance Accessible: Update on the Power NY On-Bill Legislation
Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011
12 pm Pacific Time / 3 pm Eastern
On-utility bill repayment is one of the most promising strategies for financing energy efficiency retrofits, driving the market to scale, and creating good green jobs. New York State just passed on-utility bill financing legislation with mandated utility participation, thereby opening up the possibility of home retrofits to millions of middle- and lower-income homeowners. On the next ECN call we'll learn how this bill will be implemented, hear about its impacts, and get the inside scoop on what it took to pass it through the legislature.
Presenters:
- Dave Palmer, Center for Working Families
- Emmaia Gelman, Laborers International Union
- Eric Walker, PUSH Buffalo
- Clarke Gocker, PUSH Buffalo
Key Strategies for Sustainability: Partnerships to Maintain Green Jobs Training Program
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
12 pm Pacific Time / 3 pm Eastern
The Recovery Act put an unprecedented amount of funding into training displaced and disenfranchised workers for jobs in energy efficiency and other green sectors. As the funding period for Pathways Out of Poverty and other ARRA programs comes to a close, non-profit organizations that geared up to develop new curriculum and train a workforce for jobs in a new economic sector are developing strategies to continue their training programs. The next ECN call will explore how these programs planned for their sustainability from the outset and the strategies they are implementing for their on-going sustainability.
Presenters:
- Elizabeth Reynoso – Goodwill Goes Green Program Specialist, Goodwill Industries International
- Marylee Putnam – Program Manager, Green Construction Training, Goodwill of North Georgia, Inc.
- Jodi Pincus – Executive Director, Rising Sun Energy Center
Community Labor United: Update on a Community-Based High Road Pilot Program
Tuesday, June 21st, 2011
12 pm Pacific Time / 3 pm Eastern
This call features the results of Community Labor United's pilot programs. As convener of the Green Justice Coalition, Community Labor United (CLU) is running a campaign to change how utilities conduct residential energy efficiency. They have been working to establish retrofit pilots in several diverse neighborhoods of greater Boston, combining utility funding, partnerships with unions, and community group-based outreach strategies. This unique combination has allowed CLU to reach lower-income residents, and to work in communities that traditionally do not participate in retrofit programs -- while employing residents of those communities to do the work. Their approach has tremendous potential and we're looking forward to hearing about lessons learned.
Presenters:
- Karen Courtney, Director, Foundation for Fair Contracting
- David Minasian, CLU Researcher
- Jeremy Shenk, CLU Deputy Director
- Mark Liu, Green Justice Organizer, Chinese Progressive Association
Workforce, Education, and Training Needs for Energy Efficiency Workers
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011
12 pm Pacific Time / 3 pm Eastern
This National Learning Call profiled the results of the California Workforce, Education, and Training Needs Assessment for Energy Efficiency, Distributed Generation and Demand Response, from the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at Berkeley. This comprehensive report provides recommendations on the strategies necessary to ensure that California has the requisite workforce to meet its energy efficiency goals moving forward.
Presenters:
- Carol Zabin, Donald Vial Center on Employment and the Green Economy
- Jessica Halpern-Finnerty, Donald Vial Center on Employment and the Green Economy
- Ellen Avis, Donald Vial Center on Employment and the Green Economy
Increasing Union Density in Residential Energy Efficiency
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
12 pm Pacific Time / 3 pm Eastern
Unions have traditionally offered living wage jobs and career pathways to their members, but union density within the residential energy efficiency upgrade sector has remained low. This National Learning Call invites representatives from unions, contractors, and policy experts to discuss approaches that can be taken to increase union density among contractors in the residential energy efficiency retrofit market. LiUNA's new OptiHome Alliance is presented, and we examine pioneering efforts around the country that have succeeded in this realm.
Presenters:
- Kevin Reilly, LiUNA! Campaign Director
- Steve Schwartz, LiUNA! Field Coordinator
- Emmaia Gelman, Center for Working Families
Bringing Energy Efficiency to Low Income Communities
Tuesday, April 12th, 2011
12 pm Pacific Time / 3 pm Eastern
Several of the Department of Energy's Better Buildings grantees are targeting low-incme communities specifically to benefit from energy efficiency upgrades to their homes. This National Learning Call invited program managers from the City of Indianapolis, and Neighborworks of Western Vermont Better Buildings Programs to talk about their efforts in this area. We learned about their overall program strategies, and then focused specifically on the work that they’re doing to reach low-income communities. You can access a recording of the call here.
Presenters:
- Ludy Biddle, Neighborworks of Western Vermont
- John Hazlett, City of Indianapolis
Outreach and Support to a Diverse Contractor Base
Tuesday, March 29th
12 pm Pacific Time / 3 pm Eastern
The green economy holds the potential to include historically under-represented groups in the jobs and opportunity it generates. Communities around the country are realizing that potential in a very real way by designing programs that ensure Historically Under-represented Businesses have access to the contracts and jobs that the programs create. On this Green For All National Learning Call representatives from several such programs shared their efforts to ensure that the green economy delivers on its promise to benefit all. Tune in to learn how cities can increase opportunity for contractors from communities of color, women owned businesses, and other HUBs through policies, outreach, and targeted support.
On this call, we heard from:
- Andrew Rachlin – Deputy Chief of Staff, City of Philadelphia
- Tony Jones – Executive Director, Metropolitan Contractor Improvement Program
- Carletta Waddler – President and CEO, Sustainable Training Services
Listen to the call:
Materials for the call:
Inclusive Finance Mechanisms for Residential Energy Efficiency
Tuesday, December 7th
12 pm Pacific Time / 3 pm Eastern
Finance tools are essential to achieving widespread adoption of efficiency upgrades to residential housing stock. Currently however, financing products for residential energy efficiency are expensive and unavailable to many homeowners. The callers on this Learning Call heard from experts in the field about what programs are working and how these might be replicated on a larger scale.
On this call, we heard from:
- Mark Wolfe – Executive Director, Energy Programs Consortium
- Adam Zimmerman – Senior Vice President, Enterprise Cascadia
- Mark Zimring – Senior Research Associate, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs
Listen to the call:
Materials for the call:
- LBNL's Financing EE Upgrades Slides (Powerpoint 1.9 MB)
- Enterprise Cascadia Slides (Powerpoint 1.7 MB)
High Road Agreements
High Road Agreements are strategies to ensure that green projects create good jobs, a strong economy, and equitable opportunity. Numerous cities are working to incorporate high-road language into their agreements with contractors. Join us on the call to see how these agreements are being structured, and how they might be incorporated into other green projects happening around the nation.
On this call, we’ll hear from:
- Julian Gross - Director, Community Benefits Law Center
- Pam Fendt- LIUNA Great Lakes Region Organizing Committee
- Christie, Baumel – Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Manager, Seattle Office of Sustainability and Environment
- Moderator: Jeremy Hays - Director of Special Projects, Green For All
Listen to the call:
Home Performance Social Enterprises
Tuesday, September 28
In order to increase long-term stability and continuous service delivery, non-profit organizations are increasingly looking to incorporate business practices within their mission driven work. Social enterprises within the home performance industry are proving that organizations can achieve high quality training, job creation, and widespread access to efficiency retrofits for their target populations while generating income to support their ongoing operations.
Learn about innovative social enterprise models in the home performance industry from around the country. In particular, hear how these enterprises work to integrate social, economic, and environmental benefits into their efficiency retrofit business plans.
On this call, we’ll hear directly from successful practitioners, including:
- John Mello, EnergyReady / Civic Works, Baltimore, MD
- Alan Hipolito, VerdeEnergy, Portland, OR
- Khaia McGill, Rising Sun Energy Services, Berkeley, CA
Listen to the call:
Green and Healthy Homes: Adopting An Integrated Approach
Tuesday, July 20
Energy-efficiency retrofits impact more than how much energy a home uses. They also impact how healthy a home is for the people who live there. Obviously, retrofit programs should have a "do no harm" approach, ensuring that they do not create a toxic trap of indoor air pollutants when sealing a building for energy efficiency. But that is just a minimum benchmark; energy-efficiency retrofit programs can go much further. While working on a home to make it more efficient, they can simultaneously address health hazards such as lead, asbestos, and asthma triggers such as mold and indoor allergens.
On this Green For All and Efficiency Cities Network joint learning call we heard from programs that are integrating their energy-efficiency efforts with "healthy homes" strategies and funding.
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Ruth Ann Norton, Executive Director, Green and Healthy Homes Initiative, Baltimore
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Alice Kennedy, Project Manager, Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge, Baltimore
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Dan Curry, Manager of Community Sustainability, City of Greensboro
Listen to this discussion of how an integrated approach can deliver all the benefits of energy retrofitting (energy savings, good jobs, pollution reduction, and increased comfort) while creating healthier communities, reaching more consumers, and creating a new network of program partners that can carry the green and healthy homes message.
Click here to access resources from the call
Listen to the call:
Increasing Demand for Home Retrofits: Community-Based Outreach and Mobilization
Wednesday, May 19
As more rebate and financing programs become available, energy retrofitting of homes and businesses is increasingly accessible to American consumers. But financial incentives and glossy advertising aren't enough to generate the kind of large-scale demand for efficiency we need to grow a strong and inclusive green economy.
Learn about how
community-based outreach and mobilization efforts are increasing demand
for energy retrofits, and why such community involvement is key to
achieving triple bottom line solutions: solutions that are good for
people, the environment and the economy.
On the call, we'll hear from:
- John Lauer, Program Director, The DC Project
- Lisa Clauson, Co-Director, Community Labor United (CLU), Boston
- Jeremy Hays, Director of Special Projects, Green For All
Click here to access audio & resources from this call.
Collaboration for Green Jobs Creation in Energy Efficiency
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Portland’s Innovative Home Energy Retrofit Program
Thursday, October 22
Green For All teamed up with the City of Portland to help implement a cutting-edge green jobs program. Clean Energy Works Portland aims to retrofit 100,000 homes in the coming years. In the process it will create new green-collar jobs and broad opportunities for low-income residents of the city.
The program creates a revolving loan fund that will enable Portland homeowners to take out long-term, low-interest loans and repay them through small additions to their utility bills. The home energy retrofits will save energy and lower bills, while creating good construction jobs.
Speakers on the call included:
• Sam Adams, Mayor of Portland, Oregon
• Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO, Green For All
• Margie Harris, Executive Director, Energy Trust of Oregon
Learn more about this project and what it means for green jobs creation in other cities.
Click here to access the audio and resources from this call.
Connections with Employers
Wednesday, October 14
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