BPI Stakeholders Contribute to National Workforce Development Effort
Saratoga Springs, NY: Green Workforce Connect is a new web platform that aims to hire a diverse generation of Home Energy Professionals for a rapidly expanding energy industry sector, through awareness raising activities and connection of students, job seekers, and contractors to local weatherization training providers and employers.
The project partners convened an advisory group to guide the development of an inclusive and accessible platform. The group met for a series of intensive discussions and user tests over the past year, sharing their lived experience and wisdom with the project partners.
"Participating in the advisory workgroup which focused on promoting the involvement of young BIPOC individuals in the weatherization sector, our collaborative initiatives have equipped these emerging professionals with the resources to navigate their career journeys ," says Advisor Group member James Metoyer. "We've empowered them to understand the intricacies of creating healthy, energy-efficient, and resilient homes, positioning them to play a crucial role in shaping sustainable and equitable solutions for the future, especially in marginalized communities that are disproportionately affected by climate change."
Several close friends of BPI served on the Advisory Group. We'd like to especially thank them for their service in this important work:
Richard Burbank is President of Evergreen Home Performance in Portland Maine, where he is leading the way in connecting New Mainers with the state's home performance workforce. Richard is a BPI Building Analyst.
Keith Huggins is Director of Weatherization Training at Oklahoma Association of Community Action Agencies. Keith is a BPI Quality Control Inspector, Energy Auditor, Building Analyst Technician, and Building Analyst Professional, as well as a BPI Proctor. Keith is a critical part of ongoing WAP workforce development in the state of Oklahoma.
James Metoyer is Founder and Executive Director at EnerCity Collaborative, which helps professionals find careers in weatherization, residential energy auditing, deep-energy retrofitting, and net-zero building, and ensures that BIPOC communities have equitable access to healthy, sustainable, and energy-efficient housing. He is a BPI Building Analyst Technician and Building Analyst Professional.
Cornelious Richardson is Weatherization Assistance Program Coordinator at Coastal Georgia Community Action and a member of the BPI Board of Directors. His deep knowledge of the WAP program as administered in a Community Action Agency was of immense value to the project.
“We're immensely grateful to the Advisory Council for the gift of their time and insight,” said Larry Zarker, CEO of the Building Performance Institute (BPI). “Their knowledge and lived experience brought a depth to this project that just wouldn't be possible without them. With their help, this platform will help job seekers learn about the training and certifications that can put them on a path to an exciting clean energy career.”
Users can explore detailed information on weatherization job roles, real career stories, a career-fit quiz, blog posts, template job descriptions for organizations to use, a career-fit quiz and links for job seekers to connect directly with locally hiring organizations.
About Building Performance Institute
BPI is the nation's premier building performance credentialing, quality assurance, and standards setting organization. BPI develops technical standards using an open, transparent, consensus-based process built on sound building science. From these standards, BPI develops professional certifications for individuals, company-wide credentials for BPI GoldStar Contractors, and home energy rating systems.
BPI is approved by the American National Standards Institute, Inc. (ANSI) as an accredited developer of American National Standards and as a certifying body for personnel credentials.
