Resources - Smart Buildings Center

Just Released: 2024 Energy Efficiency Jobs in America

January 3, 2025 By SBC staff

Energy efficiency employs nearly 2.3 million Americans! With the release of E4 The Future’s eighth annual Energy Efficiency Jobs in America report – produced with the Building Performance Association — you can get details on EE workers, trends, and more.

The 2024 National Summary provides big-picture infographics highlighting top states for job growth, demographics, small business impacts, and focused policy recommendations.
A high-level analysis of the report revealed some interesting findings, for example:

Nearly 2.3 Million Americans work in energy efficiency
99.9% of counties have energy efficiency workers
2 in every 5 jobs in the energy sector are in energy efficiency

Fact sheets for all 50 states plus the District of Columbia include analysis to help leaders understand the breadth and depth of the EE workforce landscape, and to make informed decisions about program development and investments. Each includes:

Total jobs per state
Comparison with other in-state energy sectors
Business sizes and total number of EE businesses
Percentage of construction workers & veterans
Breakouts by type of work
Demographic data
Number of EE jobs by county

Check out the full report here at E4TheFuture.org

SBC and Building Potential found the information about Oregon and Washington particularly interesting, as our member states. You can find those reports extracted below!

Oregon EE-Statesheet

Washington EE-Statesheet

Free, Online Demand Flexibility Learning with AESP & The U.S.D.O.E.

November 8, 2024 By SBC staff

AESP's and DOE's FLEX Program

Brought to you by AESP and the U.S. Department of Energy, Demand flexibility is the heartbeat of our future grid. It is the coordinated manipulation of energy consumption and production across grid devices on a massive scale while maintaining livability and comfort standards. AESP is now offering free, online courses that are convenient, and designed for tomorrow’s energy efficiency leaders.

Elevate your expertise with FLEX’s accredited online courses! Dive into demand flexibility, exploring water heaters, lighting, HVAC systems, and cutting-edge distributed energy resources (DERs) like solar, battery storage, and EVSE. Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, FLEX FLEX’s 3-course series offers flexible learning modules, and equips tomorrow’s workforce with skills for grid-interactive energy technologies. Whether designing customer offerings or engaging with these resources as grid assets, FLEX is your gateway to mastering the future of energy. Ideal for Energy Efficiency and DER Professionals, Electric Utilities Staff, and more. Seize the opportunity to maximize the value of flexible loads as both a grid asset and a customer asset. Enroll now for a brighter, sustainable future!

FLEX PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Demand flexibility is the heartbeat of our future grid. It is the coordinated manipulation of energy consumption and production across grid devices on a massive scale while maintaining livability and comfort standards.

Through demand flexibility, we can move energy production and demand into greater alignment, which reduces the need for costly infrastructure investments in transmission and central generation. It makes the most of existing resources, saves the grid money, and saves the consumer money.

In this guide, we will outline best practices to promote the FLEX program.

You can find this training and more on our webpage: smartbuildingscenter.org/education-training/remote-learning-library

ACEEE Summer Study Proceedings Published

October 31, 2024 By SBC staff

Earlier this year, Building Potential submitted a paper that was accepted for publication in the conference proceedings for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) Summer Study, an annual conference held at Asilomar in Pacific Grove, CA. ACEEE is a well-respected non-profit research organization that influences “transformative policies to reduce energy waste and combat climate change.” In the buildings sector, ACEEE “works to help national, state, and local governments develop, implement, and adopt whole-building solutions that significantly improve the energy efficiency of our existing buildings.” The annual conference attracts a broad swath of policy makers, researchers, and other influential changemakers from around the world.

Melissa Sokolowsky, Senior Project Manager at Building Potential, attended the Summer Study and was invited to present highlights of the paper, titled “Equitable Workforce Development in Decarbonizing Existing Buildings”, at a poster session during the conference. The paper explores the opportunities and benefits of diversifying the building operations workforce that are presented by various factors, such as the acceleration of decarbonization initiatives at the federal, state, and local levels and existing workforce gaps that are projected to increase.

The conference was also a great opportunity to connect with representatives from some of our partner organizations and collaborators, such as Washington State Department of Commerce, Energy Trust of Oregon, Slipstream, AESC and more!

Building Potential’s paper can be found at the following link:

https://www.aceee.org/sites/default/files/proceedings/ssb24/assets/attachments/20240722163155891_82c0b0cb-1459-45a7-859f-e5cb3820d187.pdf

The full conference proceedings including all accepted papers can be found by browsing the Summer Study Proceedings under Events on aceee.org. Our paper is included under Buildings in Panel 13A – Workforce.

Sources:
https://www.aceee.org/about-us
https://www.aceee.org/program/energy-efficiency-buildings

Net-Zero Preschool Makes Healthy, Mindful HVAC Decisions

October 15, 2024 By SBC staff

Our friends at BetterBricks are taking us back to preschool to show us how health conscious and Net-Zero ambitions are possible in all sectors of building operations and management. Check out the video below for more details about this story:

You can read the whole article at BetterBricks and find many more great ideas and interesting stories.

AESP: 2024 State of Demand Flexibility Report

October 8, 2024 By SBC staff

Hey there energy enthusiasts! Have you checked out the AESP 2024 State of Demand Flexibility Report yet? Dive in to discover the latest insights and trends in energy management that will spark a surge of excitement in your sustainability journey. Don’t miss out on this electrifying opportunity to stay ahead of the curve and power up your knowledge arsenal!

UNLEASH THE INSIGHTS

Inside this report, you will find several insights including:

A brief history of demand flexibility
Why grid flexibility is more important than ever
Benefits of distributed energy resources
Implementation challenges of demand flexibility
Key technologies supporting demand flexibility
Current pilots
Successful implementations

FundHubWA Can Help YOU Fund Your Next Project!

September 24, 2024 By SBC staff

Visit https://fundhub.wa.gov/about/ to find out how they can make funding your next project easier and more affordable for you!

FundHubWA connects you to state and federal climate and clean energy funding opportunities to help improve your home, business, or community. We make it easy for you or your organization to find grants, tax incentives, and other funding opportunities that make Washington cleaner, healthier, and more resilient.

Our portal includes funding sources for individuals, businesses, nonprofits, public agencies, and tribal governments related to climate and clean energy opportunities.

The Washington State Legislature approved launch of FundHubWA in 2024. FundHubWA is sponsored and administered by the Washington State Department of Commerce and is supported with funding from Washington’s Climate Commitment Act.

For more info or to explore funding opportunities click here: FundHubWA – Your gateway to grants and incentives

Contact Us