Renewables education gaining ground in region

Officials for several renewable-energy educational programs in the Appalachian region discussed their development in a panel discussion at the Appalachian Regional Conference in Ohio University on Tuesday.

A panel consisting of faculty and administrators from schools in Tennessee, Virginia, and Maryland discussed the cause of the current energy crisis as well as the growing demand for renewable-energy jobs in various areas, including engineering and construction.

The first presenter on the panel was Allan Gentry, chair of the technology department at Cleveland State Community College in Cleveland, Tenn. He spoke about CSCC's Energy Efficient Residential Construction Program, which teaches skills for building renewable-energy housing. Created in 2005, the program is open to traditional students as well as contractors interested in expanding their client base.

"It's a given there is a need to change," Gentry said. "We need to be aware of where our energy comes from, the way we use it, and also raise awareness of where opportunities are for the future."

The program offers certifications with organizations such as the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP), and in 2008 won an award from the mayor of Cleveland, Tenn., for energy leadership, and another from the U.S. Green Building Council for excellence in green building education.

The curriculum integrates class and lab work with hands-on techniques with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, as well as workshops in regional communities and high schools to pique interest in the construction field.

With unemployment continuing to rise, many people are enrolling in programs that will help them find a job with better prospects.

"They are looking for something that can put food on the table," he said.

The CSCC program has 200 currently enrolled students, and has completed more than 17,000 workshops in regional communities.

"We know the techniques and technologies are working," he said. "With today's environment and the stimulus funds and tax incentives available, it's a great time to think about energy efficiency."

Jeff Schwartz, the education program manager for the Appalachian Regional Commission and moderator for the panel, said that students who graduate from the program get hired sooner than traditional construction workers because contractors want employees who can "think green." Sometimes contractors will even enroll in the program themselves with the goal of changing their building practices to become more energy efficient. Some contractors hire students they meet in the program, Schwartz said.

"We are trying to inform, educate, create a need," Gentry said. "It's not just a thing to do; for them it's the right thing to do."

Gentry said students are constantly surprised with the simplicity and low cost of building energy-efficient housing.

"This is not rocket science," he said. "Every job does have the potential of being green."

The second speaker, Douglas Keaton, director of career and technology education for the National Energy Education Development Project (NEED) in Virginia, spoke about NEED's focus on networking government, education and communities with the goal of creating an energy-conscious and educated society through the nation's schools.

The NEED project began 29 years ago after decades of watching America ignore the potential consequences of environmentally dangerous energy practices, Keaton said.

"While we have done some things, we haven't done enough," he said. "Students will become the green decision-makers of the future."

The NEED curriculum is an interdisciplinary approach that integrates academics and cutting-edge technology, Keaton explained. NEED's philosophy is based on "kids teaching kids" and has students actively participating in one another's education. The project has agreements with colleges in Kentucky as well as the University of Cincinnati to offer high-school students up to 12 college credits if they pursue engineering or a related field.

Nationwide, about 65 percent of students who graduate from high school go on to college. In Appalachia, that number is cut in half, Schwartz said.

Keaton said that to motivate students, they must be involved in each phase of a project. "It's always about the students," he said. "Students will believe in you if you believe in them."

In acknowledgement of this, for the last 12 of 13 years 100 percent of Keaton's students have been accepted in industry and higher education, he said. Keaton attributes it to pure commitment on the part of the students.

The last speakers, Hilkat Soysal and Oguz Soysal, professors of physics and engineering at Frostburg State University in Maryland, lectured about their Wind and Solar Energy (WISE) program, which has been funded by the ARC. While only six years old, the program recently became self-sustainable. The enrollment increased from 31 to 48 students from spring 2008 to fall 2009, and continues to grow, they said.

The program focuses on the design, installation and maintenance of residential solar and wind generation systems. The program is mainly taught online, with eight weeks of intensive class work, and then three days on site for hands-on training. Oguz Soysal said that teaching the class online gives opportunities for a greater variety of information to be shared, as well as a chance for those who wouldn't be able to take the course on campus to participate. Similar to the CSCC program, WISE also accepts students who are already in the industry and wish to learn more about renewable energy, as well as a certification test for NABCEP at the end of the course.

The program is in the process of expanding and building a Sustainable Energy Research Facility (SERF), which will create opportunities for extended research and community outreach programs, as well as serve as a residential example of renewable energy success.

"The important thing is the continuity and growth of our programs," Soysal said.