Going to college has always been a logical step toward job security, but what about in the modern day of globalization, economic turmoil, and future uncertainty?  We hear about a “new economic infrastructure”: what does this mean in terms of smart career choices?  Many people are finding that their retirement savings have vanished… not to mention money that had been put aside for their children’s college tuition.

Two-year community colleges are not only more affordable, but are targeting vital skill development for the new economic age. 

An economy based on unsustainable and non-renewable energy sources has created lots of problems including pollution, exploitation of land and resources, and global insecurity.   Creating a new economy requires the technology transfer of clean renewable energy resources like geo-thermal, wind, solar, micro-hydro, tidal turbines, energy efficiency, biofuels, and other more appropriate technologies.  

This mindset is changing the way we think and learn about jobs in construction and energy.  Electrical departments in community colleges will need to provide in-depth job training for designing and installing photovoltaic systems, wind energy systems, and other appropriate technologies.  HVAC departments will need to incorporate training on geo-thermal systems, high-efficiency heat pumps, and efficient sizing of HVAC equipment.  

Not only must carpenters know a multiplicity of building systems, but they also need to understand how all the systems work together to enhance a building’s performance.  Everyone in the building trades needs to understand the building envelope and how all the systems work together in the most efficient ways.   Construction and building operations use 70 percent of all energy used in the U.S., and they will be targeted areas for job training around the world.

Community colleges are leading the effort to create a green workforce, according to a new report from the Academy for Education Development (AED) and the National Council on Workforce Education (NCWE), an affiliated council of the American Association of Community Colleges.  “Energy efficiency, particularly in buildings and construction, is one of the areas with the highest potential to cut emissions, save energy and create jobs, the report said. Many of the jobs in the green building sector will require retraining for incumbent workers—another ideal fit for community colleges,” the report states.  “A company that retrofits and updates heating and cooling and lighting systems of a building will need a construction worker with traditional skills who is also trained in the most recent energy efficiency methods”. 

A-B Tech’s Construction Science program is a leader in sustainability and green building instruction, and earns its title as Asheville’s Green Building School.

As America’s economy transforms itself into a green economy, community colleges, with their ability to turn on a dime to meet changing market conditions, will become increasingly important,” said John Carnes, dean of applied science and technology at St. Philip’s College (Texas) and NCWE president. “America will need educated technicians whose skills can cross industry lines. Those are community college graduates.”   As job knowledge becomes hybrid, so does the technology.   Thin window films that produce electricity while providing low-e protection, roofing shingles that also produce electricity and passive solar concepts that incorporate solar thermal storage into the building’s materials; only a few examples of many hybrid building technologies.   Engineering & Applied Technology programs are embracing building science and will play one of most important roles in the evolving economy.   While curriculum courses offer in-depth job training, continuing education workshops allow community members and college students a way to get oriented to the new green market with primers and introductory hands-on workshops.

Sustainability is a way of thinking that translates into all disciplines and increaslingly needs to be adopted as a new way of looking at the world.   Universities and community colleges around the world are becoming living laboratories as campuses embrace sustainability not only into curriculum, but into the campus infrastructure.   In a 2008 report to the NC state Board of Community Colleges, President of the NC Community College System, R Scott Ralls talks about the importance of sustainability in NC community colleges.   “These initiatives indicate that focusing on green is not just about environmental stewardship; it is about North Carolina’s future economic prosperity in a world where our long-term competitiveness greatly depends on energy efficiency and sustainability.”  Ralls also states, “No reason why North Carolina’s community colleges shouldn’t lead the way in this biggest of all challenges, and provide North Carolina with a world-class green workforce.”    North Carolina’s Community Colleges have played a huge role in the economic prosperity of North Carolina in the last 50 years, and developing  in-depth capabilities to educate and train a  “world class” green workforce will be important if we plan to provide the same economic opportunities for our state in the next 50 years.

Find out more about Asheville’s Green Building School, A-B Tech’s Construction Science Program.

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