Energize CT Green STEP Program

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
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and enrichment opportunities. Learn more atokillct dot org. Now here's your host
for Pulse of the Region, KateBawman. Hello, Hello, and welcome
to Pulse of the Region, theshow where we highlight all of the incredible
things happening here throughout our green Hartfordregion. I'm your host, Kate Bowman,
and as always, we are thrilledto have you here with us today.

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As you know, we have afantastic show lined up. Today.
We are getting the pulse about theEnergized Connecticut Green Step program and how the
program is assisting in filling the skilledworkforce gap. I'm thrilled to have both
of our guests here today because thisis a topic that I know I personally
have been learning about a lot justin our prep for this show. So

(01:25):
very excited to share a lot ofthe great things that are happening here.
So without further ado, I willintroduce our two guests today. First,
he is with ever Source. Heis the manager of Energy Efficiency Ricardo Jordan
So Ricardo Akay, Ricky, Welcometo the show. Thank you, Kate,
thanks for having me. Of course, thrilled to have you here today.
And joining you today is Diana McCarthyBercury from Energized CT Greenstep Administrator to

(01:53):
kind of butchered that, but Ikind of said it right. Thanks,
Thank you so much for having us, of course, of course, So
first things first, I think EnergizeConnecticut is something that many of our listeners
I'm sure have heard of and arefamiliar with. But I think it's always
great if we don't mind kind ofdoing a reminder and maybe a reintroduction for
some people. So why it,Ricky, if you could tell us a

(02:14):
little about Energized Connecticut. Sure thing. So, Energized Connecticut is an initiative
that's basically dedicated to empowering Connecticut homeownersand business owners to better manage their energy
usage energy. The initiative, throughEnergize Connecticut, offers resources and information to

(02:35):
our business owners and homeowners to justmake better energy choices and also keep their
energy consumption low. And it takesa village to support that initiative, and
there are many different entities that supportthat. We've got the Connecticut Department for
Energy and Environmental Protection, do youokay supporting that and making sure the economy

(02:55):
is strong Connecticut and their jobs arethere to support it. We've got the
Energy Efficiency Fund, which offers differentprograms that provide financial incentives for our business
and homeowners to lower their energy consumption. We've got the Connecticut Green Bank,
which is focused on making sure we'vegot private capital coming into the state to

(03:16):
support the economy, the green economy. And then we have the local electric
and gas utilities. We have everSource, which is where I'm from and
we've got Avan Grid and their subsidiariesUnited Illuminating, Connecticut Natural Gas and Southern
Connecticut Gas. So all these differentstakeholders coming together to support this initiative to

(03:37):
make energy management a much easier andsimpler thing for homeowners and business owners,
and to pretty much continue to promotea clean energy future for Connecticut. Fantastic.
Appreciate that overview, and you know, a lot of great things there
and kind of a piece of this, you know, kind of umbrella is
the energized Connecticut Green Step Program,which Diana would love if you could talk

(03:57):
a bit more about this, sure, absolutely, So the Green Step Program
is actually a workforce initiative to tryto fill the gap for the green economy
and all the jobs that are tiedwith that Green Step. We break it
down into the Green Sustainability Technical EducationProgram, and it's actually been around since
twenty fifteen, Okay. It iswas developed by the utility companies and the

(04:24):
stakeholders that Ricky just mentioned a secondago, and it's designed to prepare students
for jobs in the green building industry. We offer very specific industry related technical
trainings, courses, and credentials sothat students are prepared for the work and
ready to enter the workforce upon graduation. I love that. Well, excited

(04:45):
to talk more about that because certainlywonderful opportunities for individuals. But then really
too, you know, our workforceon a whole is this is fantastic.
And you know, Ricky, Iknow you guys really have expanded the program
as you've been seeing kind of theshifts in within this industry. If you
could talk a little bit about thisexpansion. Yeah, So, initially,
you know, the Green Step program, we focused on targeting the Connecticut Technical

(05:10):
high schools. Okay, but wesaw that the demand was there. And
here's the thing, and Connecticut innovationis happening every single year, yes,
and we have to make sure thatthe workforce can essentially catch up with that.
We have to meet the demands becauseour home owners are business owners,
they need that assistance. So webroaden it. We widened the net and
made the program available to other Connecticuthigh schools through and we also wanted to

(05:35):
make sure that we accommodated time becauseyou know, you're in high school right
you're finishing your high school career.You know, we want to make sure
we have these trainings and these workshopsafter school on the weekends, especially during
summer break, just to make itmore accessible for all the students in Connecticut.
Okay, that's fantastic. And certainlyyou had mentioned a lot of partners,

(05:57):
you know, kind of teaming uptogether to you know, help facilitate
this program, support this program,and you know again kind of are really
responsible for implementing residential and business energysaving and efficiency programs. If you talk
a little bit more on kind ofhow does this education fit into the mix
of everything else, which we probablycould take three hours to talk about,
but oh I didn't be here allday, You're like three hours. I'll

(06:24):
shorten it up for our listeners.Here we go. So we've got you
know I mentioned earlier, we haveall these programs that support all of our
energy users in Connecticut to keep theirenergy use low. We have programs that
support our businesses all different facility typesand sizes, from your large healthcare facility
all the way to your grocery store, maybe even your at your barbershop.

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And you know, specifically with oursmall business community, we actually have a
program called the Small Business Energy AdvantageProgram, Okay, which is a full
turnkey service program where contracted vendors goin and conduct free energy assessment and talk
to those business owners about how they'reusing their energy and start discussing different ways
they can improve how they manage thatenergy. I think that small business customers

(07:10):
don't have the resources, so that'swhere we come in. That's where the
initiative comes into support. And thenwe also have programs that support our single
family dwellings and our larger multifamily dwellingunits and that's our Home Energy Solutions program.
To all these programs, right,and how do we make these programs
successful? And it's the workforce that'swhat really drives the success or these programs

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and a lot of the trainings andthe specific workshops that are provided through Green
Step, they provide key principles andknowledge for these students to prepare themselves for
the workforce. Concepts like building science, how to conduct an energy audit.
Weatherization right, it's huge right wheredecarbonization is a huge buzzword right now going

(07:55):
around and you know, to beable to go into a home and identify
opportunities to weather rise and save homeownerson their heating bills is huge. So
it all ties in at the endof the day. You know an interesting
stat Last year alone, investments inthe clean energy economy in Connecticut supported over
thirty four thousand jobs. Oh mygoodness, I wanted to ask. I'm

(08:16):
like, do you have that number? Wow, that's a huge number.
Tell me about and that number.We're forecasting that number to continue to increase
the year after year. Okays.As I mentioned earlier, you know,
the innovation is can't stop it.It's exponential and you know, keeps expanding.
The way we construct homes, theway we design new facilities continues to
change your after year, and weneed to make sure the workforce is ready

(08:39):
to meet those needs definitely. Andnow is Connecticut you know kind of you
know I say, a shining starkind of across the country, or I
mean, it seems like there's alot to keep touching on. Kind of
the innovation happening here. Is thatunique to our market and to our state.
In Connecticut, we stand out amongthe rest, especially in the Northeast,
where our programs that are supported throughEnergized Connecticut are award winning and we

(09:05):
continue to make sure that's successful yearafter year. I love that. That's
great. I always trying to seeif we can, you know, not
brag, but humbly just you know, kind of speak the fact. Well,
yes, that's it's not bragging.If it's true. I like it,
Ricky, I like it. Solet's talk a little bit more.
So, all these programs available forhigh school students, and there's a lot
of different kind of certifications, asyou touched on to, kind of a

(09:26):
lot of different opportunities. But togarner those opportunities, there's certificate certifications.
My goodness, here we go.Okay, well it's a tough one.
So Dane, if you could talka little bit about just kind of what
are the options available for students?Sure, sure, So with all of
our programs, we bacon solid fundamentalcourses. So first, if students are

(09:48):
really interested in participating in the program, like Ricky said, we try to
make sure that they're available outside ofregular school hours. Okay, so we
do offer courses virtually online after school, well during spring break, uh,
summer break, and even in thisthe summer program that we're you know,
celebrating this week. Yes, Iwant to talk more about a celebration of

(10:11):
them inut I mean that was youknow, students come in uh you know
to our training facilities for two fullweeks, so we try to make them
available whenever students really are available,right, We want to make them accessible,
But schools and teachers can contact usat any time if they want to
integrate these courses into their curriculum andinto their school day. And what we

(10:33):
offer are some great lessons that areour fundamentals, right understanding what what does
building science mean? How does thebuilding operate? Right? And talking about
things like sustainability, weatherization, energyefficiency, decarbonization, what are heat pumps?
This is a big term and abig investment for you know, our
state and our country right now isdecarbonizing. So the first thing we do

(10:58):
is try to educate students so theyunderstand. And I'm always so surprised,
more recently how much these students alreadyunderstand and appreciate sustainability. They know what
it is, they understand climate science. You don't have to sell them on
it. They get it and they'rebought in. And when we teach them
about these opportunities in career pathways,it's like a win win, it's a

(11:24):
no brainer. They're already interested andinvested. From there, we go on
to technical hands on training, soRicky mentioned the HESS program, the Home
Energy Solutions. These are local homeimprovement contractors around the state that have been
invited to participate in the energy savingprograms that we have in our state.
And so they are local contractors,local employers who are looking to hire.

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So the students who are going throughour program, we want to expose them
to these local companies so they knowyou don't have to leave the state to
work in these great fields. Wehave them here. So we give them
hands on technical training so that theyare prepared. What is it like setting
up a blower door and evaluating howmuch air leakage a house has? Right?

(12:09):
What does it mean to go aroundand investigate a house and understand what
kind of light fixtures we have inhere? So the technical hands on training
really starts to build on those fundamentalclasses they've had and then guides them in
certain directions that they're interested in.Are they interested in heat pumps and HVAC?
Are they interested in maybe new construction? Right, Maybe they want to

(12:33):
work on projects that are new andcutting edge, and they want to go
above and beyond building code and learnthings like lead or or well or some
of the other high performance building standardslike Passive House which goes above and beyond
code. And then after they've gottensome of those hands on technical trainings,

(12:54):
then we bring in the credentials.So we start with some entry level credentials
like BPIs that's the Building Building PerformanceInstitute. They have some entry credentials called
like Building Science Principles and Healthy HousingPrinciples, and we also have another one
through Urban Green Council gpro Fundamentals ofBuilding Green. These are all like the

(13:15):
entry level credential you need before youcan go on to some of those advanced
credentials, and those are one totwo days. If we offer them after
school, you know, we'll breakit up over five days or so.
Also, students that have the opportunityto learn earn a little income when they
take the after school courses. Yes, can you share a little bit more
about that, because I thought thatwas fantastic. Sure, one thing that's

(13:39):
great right now is the attention andthe interest and the investment in workforce development.
And so you know, you reallycommend the energized Connecticut stakeholders ever source
in Avant, Grid Deep and theothers who are a part of it.
They have made sure that there iscompensation available for students who are taking the

(14:01):
time outside of their learning institution,outside of their school to earn as they
learn, they are interested in gettingthese credentials, and if maybe they had
to work a job after school oron the weekends or spring break or summer,
we want to make sure that ifwe're taking time away from what they
would be working, we're compensating themfor it. So that's a long way

(14:24):
to say that the students earn aminimum wage. No, now it's sixteen
dollars an hour, and so Iget a bonus for every credential test that
they pass as well. Okay,nice. And about how many students kind
of are participating in the programs?Sure, so that's a moving target because
we're constantly running programs all the time, but we can say comfortably around five

(14:46):
hundred and fifty students have earned credentialsjust this past year. Oh my goodness.
Yeah, wow, it's been great. You know, sometimes we get
to go to a class and wemeet the teachers and we build that long
relationship with a school, so wecan go back constantly and you know,
teach the next wave of kids thatare coming in. And then other times,

(15:09):
you know, Unfortunately, schools andteachers have a lot on their plate
to deliver in a short period oftime. So instead of eating away at
the calendar, will offer classes youknow, in the afternoon that students can
attend. So it's really a mixedbag of you know, do we have
anywhere from twenty twenty five students attendingany of our classes at any day or
after school program at a time?Our summer program has about sixty students participating

(15:31):
in OKA that once. Yeah,that's great, that is fantastic. And
certainly, you know, I'm surea big decision behind you know, making
it an opportunity for individuals, forstudents to get paid doing this, and
you know where give you talk alittle bit I'm sure behind the scenes on
kind of what went into that decisionand you know, and kind of really
what allowed it to occur. Well, i mean, accessibility is big.

(15:54):
You know, We've got all theseprograms and initiatives within initiatives that were were
always promoting. We want to makesure that everyone has access to it.
We want to make sure it getsto all the communities. And that's that's
where andres Conneticut comes in. Wherewe can offset the costs for these trainings,
for these workshops, for the instructors. Because there is a cost to

(16:15):
that, we want to make surethat there's there's no burden. We want
to knock down all the walls gettingin the way of bringing this knowledge to
to this community of youth. Youknow, I wanted to touch on one
thing Dana was saying, often getsoverlooked, but we're we're instilling confidence in
these high school a point. Ididn't have that level of confidence when I

(16:37):
was I mean I hadn't after schooljob, sure, but I mean it
wasn't in the field that I'm currentlyin right now. Only imagine what it
would be like if I was exposedto some of that at a much younger
age. And now we've got highschool students being able to go into a
home, you know, potentially witha contractor that's hired them and talk to
a homeowner about how they use theirenergy. And that's that's true mendus at

(17:00):
such a young age. So instillingthat level of confidence is huge. But
you know, being able to offsetthose costs and make sure that these programs
are available across the state is huge. I mean, that's that's why we're
here and we're going to continue tosupport that. That's great. And another
area where your covering costs is thetransportation. And Dane, if you could
talk a little bit about this assistance, because again going back to kind of

(17:22):
removing those barriers, this is atransportation is a big thing. Oh absolutely
absolutely. You know, in ourwork, we always want to figure out
not only where the jobs are andwhere the candidates are, but how do
we connect the two right And wehave to do the same thing when it
comes to our training opportunities. Sowe provide transportation options. Students let us

(17:45):
know, you know, where they'recoming from, and then we can provide
either you know, bus tickets ortrain tickets or you know, a shuttle
service, whatever it is. I'mgoing to give a shout out to our
incredible students from Bullard Haven down inBridgeport who attended and they are heating and

(18:06):
plumbing students. And we had aboutsix from this program center for our summer
program. And every day they caughtthe train at six fifty five am in
Bridgeport and they took it to NewHaven, hopped on another train up to
Hartford and were in class for youknow, eight forty five. So they
traveled for quite some time to getto class, and they could have gone

(18:26):
to the program in New Haven thatwe were hosting at Gateway, but they
picked the program, the training program, the Infiltration, duck Leakage and Decarbonization
program. They picked that because itwas talking about heat pumps and it really
related to the plumbing and heating educationthey had already have. So these students
traveled over an hour each way toparticipate in this program, and they were

(18:49):
energetic, they were enthusiastic, theywere never late, and they just rocked.
They were so any employers listening,I feel like you may want these
six resumes. Yes, seriously,seriously. We were happy to connect anybody
with these impressive young professionals. Andthey all earned these advanced credentials that you

(19:14):
need to work in weatherization and towork in building performance. They earned BPI's
IDL or the Building Analyst Technician.They earned these credentials that professional contractors have
a hard time and for them itwas like a breeze. They just get
it. You get it, youknow. So it's definitely a compliment to

(19:34):
you know, the education and theexperience that they had, and they did
very well. All of our studentsdid very well in our training program.
That's great. And why to piggybackoff of that is really that connection between
the students and then you know,the employers because that certainly, I'm sure
there's another education piece that needs tohappen there so that your employers know that

(19:56):
there's this pool of great candidates.Can you talk a little bit about how
are those connections made? Absolutely sure. So we work every day reaching out
to contractors and companies, whether theywork directly in weatherization or they're in like
the Weatherization Assistance Program we call thatWAP here in Connecticut, okay, or

(20:17):
if there is you know, asubcontractor that's working on maybe installation or renewable
energy or you know new construction.Right, So, anybody that has to
touch on any of these technologies,any of these industries. We're constantly doing
outreach to see how many more partnersemployers we can bring into the program.

(20:40):
Then an employer will send us ajob description, will jazz it up so
it really resonates with a younger audience. It's an entry level audience, you
know, Megan really saying and resonate. And then the students, you know,
we've worked with them on their resumesand cover letters. We've done some
mock interviews with them as part ofthe program, so they're prepared nice.

(21:02):
And we have an employer expo happeningright before our award ceremony, so employers
are welcome to join and they canhire students right there on the spot,
they can set up interviews. Wecan help facilitate that. Of course,
you know, Ricky mentioned before howimpressive the work is happening right now in
our industry in our state, andthat also means we need more workers,

(21:25):
and so the folks are not alwaysavailable to attend our employer expos So there's
a lot of support in the backgroundfor any employer who wants to connect with
any of our students who have graduatedthese Most of these students have just graduated
high school, so they are reallyready to enter the workforce. So anytime
an employer wants to connect with us, they can just email the Energized Connecticut

(21:48):
team. You can find out moreon energize dot com and type in green
step and you'll be right there onthe program and there's you know, an
info I think it's info at greenstepdot com is the email, but folks
can get in touch with us anytime. Okay, that is fantastic. And
I'm actually have some small businesses inmine, so this is great. This

(22:08):
is great bring them to us.And one thing we would be remiss so
we talked about. You highlighted thecelebration and so it's kind of the cumulation
of the program is this week,which is wonderful. So Ricky, if
you could share a little bit aboutthis, it's it's it's so great.
It's such a humbling experience for mepersonally. I think I can speak with
the end. Also, you knowthis week we'll be having our second annual

(22:32):
Green Step Awards ceremony. Well,we're going to be acknowledging, you know,
these these these students that this youthfor all their accomplishments, you know,
taking on these trainings and going throughthese workshops and and going from beginning
to end and the culmination with anawards ceremony. It's so great, especially
at that young age, acknowledge basicallythe next generation the future of the workforce

(22:56):
with what they've done. Uh.And you know I wanted to tie and
something else that the end I wastalking about earlier, you know, with
the energized Contedicut programs, and wewant to make sure that our homeowners and
business owners continue to have a levelof trust that we know what we're doing.
And when it comes to certain buildingscience principles and a lot of the
programs that we promote, we wantto make sure that we have certified workforce

(23:19):
that are doing the work. That'swhere that those certifications are extremely important.
So looking forward to also acknowledging thatduring the ceremony, and obviously you know,
acknowledging the support of the parents andthe community and the greater ecosystem because
it takes a village. There's somany other supporters that help out these students.
And then I was also mentioning,you know, we'll have some networking

(23:41):
opportunities too. I mean, Idon't even think I knew what networking really
meant at that age. And youknow, we're already talking to you know,
recent high school grads about opportunities inthe workforce. And I think it's
tremendous, yes, because you know, the demands are there and the workforce
opportunities are also there, and youknow, there's that level of confidence that

(24:02):
these students went through these energized Connecticutprograms and you know, achieve these certifications
and that they are ready to getinto the workforce. They're ready to get
out there and help our homeowners andbusiness owners, you know, make make
better and smarter energy choices. Andyou know, we'll also be you know,
giving out some very unique and nuancedawards for students who you know,

(24:22):
achieved certain distinctions within certain tracks andand certain you know, training disciplines.
And then maybe the highlight of theevening obviously beyond acknowledging the entire group,
is that will be awarding one particularstudent with a scholarship opportunity at Tungs's Community
College. That is, yeah,it's terrific. Uh, you know in

(24:45):
Tunxsa's Community College actually has a reallygood energy management program and uh, you
know, I myself, I've gotyou know, several folks that support the
ever Source team that have actually beensuccess stories from that Tunks's program. So
just great to tie it altogether.Humbled and excited that we get to do
this and that we get to representenergised Connecticut and acknowledge these students. So

(25:10):
I love it. Both you can'tsee them, but both of them are.
Everyone's smiling here, which is great. The excite year to go behind
this, which is wonderful and youknow, you touched on success stories and
you know, Dana would love isany kind of a glimpse you could give
us in terms of, you know, how many of these graduates have gone
on to kind of pursue careers withinthese industries and you know which I'm sure

(25:30):
it's tough to track, but it'slike hurting cats, yes, China.
Once we release them into the industries, it's hard to get them back.
So busy, but yeah, there'sdefinitely been a lot of great jobs and
internships. Personally my organization, we'veemployed four students from the Green Step program,

(25:52):
all of which will be at theawards ceremony this week, and one
of them was the recipient of theTungst Scholarship last year, and he's going
to talk about his experience in thatprogram and what it meant to him because
without it, he said, withoutthat scholarship, he would not have been
able to go to college. That'syeah, so it has been game changer
for him. One story I'll sharewith you if you know, if we

(26:17):
have time, please, So,when we brought the program, you know,
back into the classroom, right,so at one point we had to
go virtual with all of our classes, and so when we got back into
the classroom, one of the firstthings I did was bring an employer with
me to talk to the students aboutweather orization jobs. And so this one

(26:37):
brought it in and you know,he said, I'm hiring somebody. You
know, go ahead and send mea resume if you're interested. One student
take advantage of that center resume Overa few years later, I bought my
first home, and of course,being a sustainability energy efficiency nerd, the
first thing I did was call itEnergized Connecticut and and set up my home

(27:02):
energy audit Michae Energy Solutions appointment.And who was the technician that day.
He was his first day as aleap Oh my goodness. I showed up
and I opened my door and Iwas like, oh my goodness, congratulations,
and you're still in the industry andthis is exciting. Yeah. So
yeah, I mean, we havea ton of stories like that. You

(27:23):
know, we definitely do our bestto place as many students as we can.
One great thing also about the program, you know, is students learn
more about it and then and thenthey learn how they want to participate,
so they want to continue on withschool and their education. Do they decide
Okay, maybe weatherizations just not reallythe right fit for me. So we
try to find them something that,you know, is very parallel to what

(27:44):
we're learning. And then we definitelyplaced a lot of students with wonderful organizations
around around the state. And toadd to what Ricky was talking about before,
building that trust, it's just remarkableto know that these programs are out
there. Folks are certified. Butthe folks coming to your home are from
your community, Yes, your hometown. Yes, they're your neighbors. They

(28:07):
were your high school graduates recently,right, so they're yeah, they're your
neighbors, they're they're local, they'reyour community members. So certainly a win
win for everybody. Which, yeah, definitely. So coming up next,
when are the next available sessions,Yes, well, but we need this
so we definitely take August is thetime to reflect on the work that we've

(28:29):
done and then rally the troops again. So teachers deserve teachers and all educators
deserve a wonderful time off in thesummer, and we don't want to go
knocking on doors just yet, butas soon as teachers and schools resume,
we are right back at it.So we will have more virtual after school
training programs and then every school orteacher who is interested is welcome to contact

(28:52):
us and say, hey, wewant we want to bring your program to
all of our students or to aparticular class here, So how can we
get on the schedule and we'll setthat up directly. So that's great.
Yeah, so as soon as everybody'sback from you know, the beach,
yes, summer break, we'll getright down to it. Nice. Fantastic
And Ricky, where can people goto find out more information and also to

(29:15):
look to if they're interested in registeringfor programs. Yeah, so you know,
we're going to continue to work withDiana to make sure that all the
high schools have all the information asDana was saying on the next session and
the schedules. But more importantly,if you want to find out more information
today, energizect dot com for youryour resource and in the search bar just

(29:36):
type in green step for more information. Fantastic. Well, thank you both
so much, not only for theconversation today, but certainly just kind of
what you're doing on a day inand day out basis, each of you
individually and also your teams, andyou know appreciate, as you mentioned,
it takes a village, and youknow so appreciate the work of everyone in
that village. Thank you, thankyou, Thanks for having us of course,

(29:56):
of course, and for all thedetails about today's show, you can
visit pulseoftheregion dot com. A bigthank you to our show partner Okill,
and of course thanks to you forlistening. I'm Kate Awman. Go out
and make today a good day herein Connecticut.