Washington

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The Greenforce® Initiative is growing in the Seattle region. We are partnering with the Skill UP Washington local workforce funder collaborative to engage community colleges in efforts to strengthen green career pathways for lower-skilled adults in this region.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE PARTNERS

The following Seattle Greenforce® Initiative partners were awarded innovation grants to advance their efforts in the areas of green workforce development and campus sustainability:

Clover Park Technical College (Lakewood, Washington): Clover Park Technical College will enhance their Sustainable Building Science degree program curriculum and training by helping course instructor(s) gain BPI-certified training in indoor air quality. Training modification was realized as soon as fall 2011, and student will be assessed on their ability to demonstrate occupation-related skills within the 960 sq. ft. Clover Park Zero Energy House. This project will contribute to the greening of occupational training at CPTC raise the awareness of indoor air quality in buildings, starting with residential applications, but containing curricular elements that are inherently applicable to commercial and industrial settings, as well.

Learn about the Sustainable Building Science Program and Clover Park's degree and certificate offerings.

Highline Community College (Des Moines, Washington): Highline Community College, Washington State’s most diverse college with 68 percent learners of color, will develop a Solar Technology program of training that is specifically related to water heating. This project proposes to utilize investments in curriculum development, equipment acquisition and work shop preparation to further potential educational pathway development for Solar Technicians and Small Business & Entrepreneurship training that leads to a certificate or Associate Degree. The proposed project will also serve as a campus demonstration project, making good on the Greenforce® Initiative promise to advance a “Living Laboratory” concept that connect students to hands on workforce training in green occupations, while simultaneously raising awareness of sustainability principals for all who interact with the physical campus environment. As part of the proposal, HCC plans to track the energy savings provided by the use of solar heated water on campus, which further contributes to the potential impact of the investment within the LAN region and beyond.

North Seattle Community College (Seattle, Washington): North Seattle Community College proposes to improve the financial and institutional sustainability of environmental sustainability programs, beyond the life of grant funding, by advancing the prominence of environmental sustainability principals in the institutionally sanctioned framework of training offerings. NSCC already offers certificate programs in Green Real Estate and Green Healthcare, and the college is working to develop a Green Business certificate program. Through this proposal, NSCC hopes to develop certificate training in sustainability principals that would be applicable within multiple career pathways.

Learn about the Green Real Estate Program and North Seattle Community College's academic programs.

Seattle Community College District: Seattle Community College District has advanced a proposal to use mini-grant funds to advance the efforts of the Chancellor’s Sustainability Initiative (CSI). The District is a longstanding partner of the Greenforce® Initiative by way of an early commitment by Chancellor Jill Wakefield and Vice Chancellor Carin Weiss, whose commitment to developing green training offerings that maximize opportunities for area job-seeker who are historically under-represented in post-secondary education is entirely consistent with the goals of the Greenforce® Initiative. The District proposal will advance the Living Laboratory concept and the greening of curriculum by enabling the development of a business plan that guides the District’s efforts to realize the goals of the CSI. This effort will be bolstered by the support of such key stakeholders as the City of Seattle Office of Economic Development and Seattle Climate Partnership.

South Seattle Community College (Seattle, Washington): South Seattle Community College (SSCC) has proposed an energy efficiency project aimed at providing students with on the job training opportunities, while simultaneously benefiting area small businesses that will benefit from assistance in workplace greening. SSCC proposes to work in conjunction with Highline CC’s StartZone initiative to recruit and coordinate local businesses to participate in an internship program that provides students from SSCC’s Georgetown Campus with hands on learning opportunities in energy auditing. SSCC seeks to develop an ongoing sustainable institutional relationship between the Puget Sound Industrial Excellence Center, housed on SSCC’s Georgetown Campus, and HCC StartZone, which serves low-income small business owners and entrepreneurs. *Highline Community College submitted an additional proposal that essentially mirrors the project design detailed above. To date, twelve energy audits have been conducted by students.

Learn more about South Seattle's course and program offerings.