Green-collar employment

Going green has become red hot these days.

Nearly 150 people filled the Germanna Community College Daniel Technology Center’s conference room Tuesday to learn more about green energy and sustainable industries.

The daylong Green Jobs Conference featured 26 presenters, panelists, speakers and moderators who talked about the long-lasting benefits of energy efficiency, sustainable agriculture and biofuels, home improvements, renewable energy and federal tax credits.

After the opening remarks, several experts relocated into classrooms where they discussed a number of specialized topics.

Andrew Grigsby, principal for Commonwealth Sustainability Works, led the discussion on “Residential Construction: Building and Retrofitting for a new Market.”

“The idea is to use a lot less natural resources and still achieve the goal of having a good piece of shelter overhead,” said Grigsby, who consults local homeowners and building professionals on how to create sustainable construction.

In fact, all it takes is learning how to incorporate smart design techniques such as altering a crawlspace into a closed and conditioned space, adding proper insulation, maximizing air sealing and installing energy-efficient windows — just to name a few.

As a green-building expert, Grigsby performs computer simulations of a client’s home in an effort to find cost-effective building strategies. His goal is to make sure that low construction costs aren’t outweighed by high operating costs.

First, Grigsby enters a number of parameters — such as volume, orientation and insulation — into an energy audit software program. Then, he starts adding improvements and watches as the cost to heat and cool a home decreases.

“It’s a powerful tool,” he said.

Panelist Jeff Hall, a Fredericksburg-based homebuilder, said he earned a $2,000 tax credit after building an energy-efficient home a few years ago.

“It’s pretty easy to do, and it doesn’t cost a lot of money,” Hall said. “All it takes is air-sealing the house, installing quality windows, good insulation and air quality.”

Across the hall, panelist Warren Howell for the “Sustainable Agriculture and Biofuels” session stressed the importance of buying local produce.

“The key point of success of direct marketing is keeping the chain short,” said Howell, agricultural development officer for the department of economic development in Loudoun County. “With a good farmers market, you barely have a chain: It’s just the farmer and the consumer. The more of that we have, the better off we’ll all be.”

Government assistance
Alleyn Harned, Virginia assistant secretary of commerce and trade, started the conference by stressing the importance of creating sustainable jobs, especially in this worsening economy filled with increasing unemployment.

In March 2008, the national unemployment rate was 5.2 percent. A year later, it had jumped to 9 percent.

Statewide, there was a 3.6 percent unemployment rate in March 2008 compared to 7 percent in March 2009.

“Opportunities like this conference and green job goals are key,” said Harned, adding that stimulus funding includes money for energy conservation.

Nationally, the stimulus money will help create jobs in four categories: energy, infrastructure, education and health care.

Virginia will receive $4.8 billion in federal funding — some of which will go toward green projects and industries — thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Lisa Johnson, senior vice president for Old Dominion Power cooperative, talked about how the power industry has evolved over the years and how it’s changing because of the popularity of sustainable energy.

“We’re going to see different types of electricity generation,” Johnson told the crowd. “We’re going to have a much greater variety of resources playing together in the marketplace. It’ll be less dependence on foreign oil and more environmental opportunities.”

The power of education
Germanna President David A. Sam introduced the speakers by reminding the audience that the community college’s mission is built on “calculated hope.”

“It’s the calculation and the hope that if you invest in people and in their training and education, then they will have better lives and better jobs and do better things for their communities and for their employers,” Sam said. “This conference today is also about calculated hope. It’s about taking problems and looking for opportunities.”

Verlane Mack, a program director for Employment Resources in Montross, brought seven young men to the daylong conference, optimistic the conference would spark a bit hope in them.

“We build lives by building houses,” said Mack, referring to the Youth Build Program, a six- to nine-month comprehensive pre-apprenticeship construction skills training course. “It’s important for us to teach the students about green energy at a young age. In order to succeed in this field, we first have to be introduced to it and learn about it.”