Enough of the Green Job Promises: Hard Lessons from the Field

Los Angeles Conservation Corps• Dan Knapp – Deputy Director• Bo Savage – Div. Director Conservation Programs

Sustainability for All & Corps Innovations• Dorsey Moore – Principal & CEO

February 13, 2012

In a world where everyone talks about the promise of green jobs, three years ago the Los Angeles Conservation Corps tried to live “green dream.” Curious to see how they did? Come join us.

This multifaceted workshop will focus on the challenges (and benefits) of developing and operating advanced career technical education programs in the solar, energy efficiency and water conservation industries. Battle-tested panelists will share their trials and tribulations. They promise to give you the straight scoop without the special effects.

Presentation to include information on adaptive collaboration frameworks, flexible funding models, regional corps collaboration, partnership challenges, new market creation, enterprise development, leveraging resources, and how to cry on the inside. Lively discussion and shouting to follow.

This workshop is not for the faint of heart or for those that want to talk about the promise of green jobs.

Rated: MA [for mature audiences only]

Enough of the Green Job Promises: Hard Lessons from the Field

Los Angeles Conservation Corps

The primary mission of the LA Conservation Corps is to provide at-risk young adults and school-aged youth with opportunities for success through job skills training, education and work experience with emphasis on conservation and service projects that benefit the community.

LA Conservation Corps• Where does the LA Conservation Corps

serve?– 26 Service delivery sites in LA County– 11 Program/Operations sites throughout the LA Basin

LA Conservation Corps - Education

• Charter Schools (Los Angeles Education Corps)

• After School Programs • SEA Lab • Environmental

Awareness Program

LA Conservation Corps - Conservation• Young Adult Corps

(18-25 year olds)– Construction– Brownfields– Wildland Fire Fighting– Solar / Weatherization– Park Development– Habitat Restoration– Urban Forestry– Environmental Safety

• SEA Lab (18-25 year olds)• Clean & Green (14-17 year olds)

LA Conservation Corps - Support

• Support & Transition Services Department (14-24 year olds)

• Transitional Living Program (18-21 year olds)

LA Conservation Corps - Licenses• General Contractor• Specialty Licenses:

– Electrical– Heating, Ventilation & Air

Conditioning– Landscaping– Painting

• Strategy & Development• Innovative research to improve conservation

corps efficiency & effectiveness• Design sustainable training programs that fit the

corps model• Create new revenue models• Collaborative approach

Rainwater Harvesting

Solar Photovoltaic Installation

Green Career Strategy - GoalDevelop advanced career technical education (CTE)

programs that build on the existing LA Corps CTE programs

Land Conservation

BrownfieldsConstruction

Green Career Strategy - Criteria

New programs must:• Be in alignment with mission

• Build on “corps” model:– Academic education– Career technical education– Paid on-the-job-training

community service projects

• Be sustainable– Industry driven demand– Funding

Green Career Strategy - Focus Areas

• Initial focus on:

Solar Photovoltaic

Water Conservation

Weatherization/Energy Efficiency

Green Career Strategy – Approach

1. Plug into existing state-funded programs

2. Collaborate with local professional providers

3. Develop new local programs

SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis

Corps - Unique PositioningKey Offering:

Only shop that does paid “on-the-job” training

Also:• Project development• General Contractors

License

• Ready labor

• Relationships with agencies• Exempt from prevailing

wage• Brand value

Unique Positioning

Conservation Corps

Conservation Corps

Public Agency Project SponsorPublic Agency

Project Sponsor

Historical Corps – Project Framework

Conservation Corps

Conservation Corps

Historical Corps – Project Framework

Grant Grant

Public Agency Project SponsorPublic Agency

Project Sponsor

Conservation Corps

Conservation Corps

Project PartnersProject

PartnersFunding PartnersFunding Partners

X-Factor PartnersX-Factor Partners

Training PartnersTraining Partners

Company Partners

Company Partners

ProvideReceive

Receive

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Provide

ProvidePro

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Provide

Pro

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veProvi

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Provide: • Labor• Supervision

Receive: • Payment • Experience• CM Placement

Provide: • Experience• Jobs for CM’s

Receive: • New Business• Revenue• Trained CM’s

Provide: • Funding• Brand Value

Receive: • Mission Fulfillment

Provide: • Project Site• Funding

Receive: • Project Benefits

Provide: • Training• Funding

Receive: • Revenue/#’s

Provide: • Funding• Brand Value

Receive: • Mission Fulfillment

Solar Photovoltaic

SolarSolar

Solar PV:Program Development Progression

Enterprise Full Service $$$$$

Advanced High-skilled Assistance $$$

Intermediate Moderate-skilled Assistance

$$

Basic Low-skilled Assistance $

Phase Name Detailed Description $

Solar PV – Training Process Overview

Solar Training

Solar Training

GRID Alternatives(low-income)

Obregon Park

CBS Television

CBS Television

Hojas de Plata

Solar PV – Metrics

Category Goals Actual

Corpsmembers Trained 100 63

Job Placements 75 6

Projects Completed 12 9

Private Sector Collaborators 8 4

Funding $1.5M $500K

Clean Energy (kW installed) NA 543

Pollution Reduction (CO2) NA 714,833

Financial Savings (year one) NA $74,735

Solar PV – Lessons Learned• Takes time to develop a quality program given the technical nature of the industry;

quality assurance• Training

– Need to develop corpsmember appropriate accelerated classroom training; – Low-income residential training projects;– Helpful to have OJT technical trainer on roof to help support supervisor and CMs

• Projects – Establish well-defined roles

• Private Sector Collaborator– Need to bring something to the table: money or projects– Stay in regular communication and ask for their input every step of the way– Not all PV integrators are good partners

• Funding– “Slack” funding is important to develop new projects and programs– If possible, beneficial to be General Contractor on project

Weatherization/Energy Efficiency (WX/EE)

Earned Income $

Weatherization/Energy EfficiencyWeatherization/

Energy Efficiency

WX/EE – Programs

1. Eastern Los Angeles Energy Assistance Team (ELEAT)

2. AmeriCorps California Energy Service Corps

3. Energy Smart Jobs

WX/EE – ELEAT Program

Provide WX/EE installation services to low-income residents in Eastern Los Angeles County.

Funding:• DOE Weatherization

Assistance Program• DHHS Low-Income

Home Energy Assistance Program

Eastern LA Energy Assistance TeamEastern LA Energy Assistance Team

Los Angeles Conservation Corps Network

Los Angeles Conservation Corps Network

ELEAT Process & Roles

1. Outreach1. Outreach 2. Eligibility2. Eligibility 3. Assessment3. Assessment

4. Installation4. Installation 5. Inspection5. Inspection

LBCAP LBCAP

LBCAPLACCN

LBCAP

ELEAT – Installation MeasuresDeep Weatherization:• Furnaces• Water heaters• Door/Windows• Appliance• Attic Insulation• Weatherstripping• CO Alarms• Faucet aerators• + 80 other measures

Why ELEAT Is Pretty Cool

• Mission overlap – low-income focus• Gets us in the door with CAA’s/ESP’s• Access to their networks & resources• New sources of automatically renewable

funding: DOE, DHHS & others• Replication of model• Corps regional collaboration

Why ELEAT Is Pretty Scary

• New ground for corps programs• Lots of responsibility w/ partial control• High expectations• Very complicated program• Lots of unknowns – e.g., budget• High financial risk!• Lots of organizations in collaboration• Test Corps mettle

WX/EE – It’s Complicated

Has anyone seen our keys to success?• Learn quickly

• Develop progressive systems

• Contract compliance

• Hire great staff & train them well

• Attention to detail

WX/EE – Metrics

Category Goals Actual

Corpsmembers Trained 126 126

Job Placements 94 88*

Homes Weatherized 2,064 800+

Private Sector Collaborators ? 4

Funding $5.25M $3.25M

Energy Saved (kWh or Therms) NA ?

Pollution Reduction (CO2) NA ?

Savings to Residents (Annual) $701K $272K

WX/EE – Lessons Learned• Be careful what you wish for

• WX/EE is very technical • Very administratively complicated• Cool proposal ≠ successful program• Be ready to learn quickly & adapt program

• Patience

• Cash flow

Water Conservation

Water Conservation – Diverse Industry• Rainwater Harvesting• Greywater recycling• Native landscape/xeriscape

• Native plant nursery

• Storm water capture (groundwater recharge)

• Smart irrigation• Water appliance efficiency/replacement• Evaporation control

• Desalination

• Watershed restoration

Water Conservation

Water Conservation

Shipley Nature CenterHuntington Beach

Water Conservation – RWH Project

Long Beach Community Action Partnership

Water Conservation – RWH Project

Shipley Nature Center

Water Conservation – RWH Project

Compton Washington Park

Water Conservation – RWH Project

Compton Washington Park

Water Conservation – RWH Project

Compton Washington Park

Water Conservation – RWH Project

Compton Washington Park

Water Conservation – Metrics

Category Goals Actual

Corpsmembers Trained 100 100

Job Placements 75 75*

Projects Completed NA 8

Private Sector Collaborators NA 0*

Funding NA $1.5M

Water Savings (Gallons/year) ? 105,000

Pollution Reduction (CO2) ? ?

Savings to Project Sites (Annual) $? $?

Water Conservation – Lessons Learned

• Water Conservation is a very diverse industry• Need Corpsmember appropriate curriculum• Onsite Technical Trainer• Projects • Private Sector Collaborator – Not many existing

firms since new industry• A lot to learn!

Learning Curve

Water Conservation

Water Conservation

WX/EEWX/EE

Solar PVSolar PV

Questions & Discussion

Thank You!

Extra slides

• These slides were removed and will not be used.

Solar PV – Next Steps

• Continue to develop in-house technical expertise

• Continue relationship development with PV integrators• Position corps to be ongoing source of “community labor”

for projects• New solar project development

• Develop a regional conservation corps collaboration to achieve “scale”

WX/EE – Next Steps

• Learn - Continue to develop in-house technical expertise and experience

• Diversify - Position corps to be a contractor for other WX/EE programs

Water Conservation – Next Steps

• Continue to develop in-house technical expertise

LA Corps – Solar Strategy Overview2010 2011 2012

Developed solar installation training program

Developed business plan for regional solar training program

Continue regional solar training program (& expand to other local corps state-wide)

Individual Solar Projects-Low-income residential (single-family)-Municipal (Obregon Park)-Commercial (CBS)

Individual Solar Projects-Low-income residential (single-family)-Low-income multi-family (Hojas)

Develop additional fee-for-service solar installation projects (partnering w/ firms)-Create niche market in low-income market

LA Corps – WX/EE Strategy Overview2010 2011 2012

Individual WE/EE Projects

Become proficient at DOE/LIHEAP WX Program

Continue DOE/LIHEAP WX Program

Develop DOE/LIHEAP Weatherization Program

Research becoming utility low-income contractor to maximize:-Services to residents-Funding diversity & revenue

Become utility low-income contractor

Researched & evaluated Energy Upgrade CA Program-Subcontractor-Contractor

LA Corps – Water Conservation Strategy Overview

2010 2011 2012

Research water conservation training programs

Develop rainwater harvesting (RWH) training program

Expand RWH training program to other local corps

Secured funding for training program development

Complete demonstration RWH grant projects-LBCAP-Shippley Nature Center

Develop fee-for-service RWH program (residential & non-residential)

Completed individual water conservation projects (RWH, grey water, xeriscaping)

Research & develop other water conservation projects