Delivering training to affordable housing residents and Veterans.
Project
Everyday Energy is a full-service solar company that specializes in the design, financing, and installation of solar for the Affordable Housing Community. They focus on finding innovative ways to reduce energy costs for property owners and residents.
Approach
As a newly formed company in a growing industry, Everyday Energy needed laborers to join its crew and assist with installations. Following several discussions with property owners and experts in the solar grant funding space, it became clear there was an enormous opportunity to address two challenges.
- Everyday Energy needed crew members.
- Many of the residents in the communities they served were eager to work and in need of a new skill. Additionally, many of the residents were veterans.
Solution
Everyday Energy’s leadership team asked if I would be willing to expand the marketing and event management work I was doing and lead the build-out of a workforce development program. I quickly accepted the opportunity to use my instructional design and sustainability expertise to direct these efforts.
I enlisted the help of Brian Hurd, an energy efficiency and solar installation training expert at Hands-On Solar. Together, we developed a series of training courses on the basics of solar installation. The training program included classroom instruction, a safety training workshop, and hands-on installation work.
Result
The Obama Administration recognized this program for providing workforce training to affordable housing communities. It also became a model and inspiration for the California Public Utilities Commission to require some level of resident training when projects receive state solar incentives.
Everyday Energy’s solar courses qualify as Community Development Activities under the Community Reinvestment Act.