Green advisers: Waste Reduction Partners helps Asheville-area organizations save money in environmentally friendly ways

A program aimed at helping local businesses, governments and schools save money in ways that are environmentally friendly was green before green was cool.

Waste Reduction Partners is a program of the Land-of-Sky Regional Council, a multicounty local government planning and development organization.

The program, started in 1992, taps into the volunteer expertise of retired scientists, engineers and others to develop cost-savings plans that also benefit the environment.

In 2000, the program teamed with the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources for management assistance. And in 2008, the program expanded to serve the entire state by opening a second office in Research Triangle Park under the auspices of the Triangle J Council of Governments.

“It’s something we’ve been doing a long time,” said Terry Albrecht, the state director of Waste Reduction Partners who works in the Land-of-Sky offices on Leicester Highway.

“It wasn’t called lowering your carbon footprint in 1995, but that’s what we’re doing,” Albrecht said. “It’s just been very grounded in a business sense.”

Over the years, the program has helped businesses, schools and local governments save hundreds of thousands of dollars in water and electricity charges, and in turn saved water and cut air pollution. It’s now in high demand with renewed interest in protecting the environment, and because of federal spending and grant programs aimed at promoting savings through sustainability measures such as energy audits.

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The program got its start with the help of preliminary funding from the Tennessee Valley Authority, which wanted to put retired engineers and scientists to work with industries in the region to develop pollution prevention strategies and cut costs, Albrecht said.

Today, the program has about a $450,000 budget and receives money from federal, state and local sources, mainly grants. Waste Reduction Partners offers its services at no charge to its clients, who can see big cost savings or may land grants after receiving a report from the program. “Our group, over the past year and a half, has been able to assist 41 organizations — community colleges, schools, local governments — and help them receive $4.6 million in grant money,” Albrecht said.

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Tennessee survey designed to identify green jobs

State officials say Tennessee is one of the first states to conduct a comprehensive business survey to identify green jobs.

The Tennessee Department of Labor plans to mail more than 6,000 surveys to Tennessee employers in June.

The surveys will focus on economic activity in the energy efficiency and renewable energy industries.

They will also identify occupations and skill requirements within those industries.

Results will be published online next spring at http://www.sourcetn.org.

They will establish a baseline from which to measure growth of green industries and jobs within the state.

Source: WATE.com

Advanced Green expands to Charlotte

Solar-energy distributor Advanced Green Technologies is expanding in North Carolina, taking advantage of the state’s tax incentives for solar operations.

The Florida-based company plans to open a 1,500-square-foot Charlotte office in a business park at 5239 Old Dowd Road, near Charlotte/Douglas International Airport.

“We expect to hire one person in the short term and will have a lot of people traveling there,” says Yann Brandt, AGT vice president. “If successful, we would add three to five more support staff.”

Meanwhile, the company says it nearing financing for a 2.3-megawatt solar project in eastern North Carolina.

“We have completed the buildout and will put a demonstration unit up on the roof,” Brandt says. “The project we’ve been working on should be the largest rooftop solar installation of its kind in the state.”

He says North Carolina is a promising market because of its 35 percent tax credit for renewable-energy projects.

The 2.3-megawatt system will cost about $14 million. AGT will sell energy from the facility to Raleigh-based Progress Energy Inc. (NYSE:PGN).

AGT’s main offices are in Fort Lauderdale and Paris, and it has additional offices in Wilmington, N.C.; Portland, Ore.; and Long Island, N.Y.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

Charlotte-area firms get grants for green projects

Three regional companies will receive grants of up to $100,000 to develop and market green technologies and products.

The funds will be distributed by the N.C. Department of Commerce’s green business fund. In total, the department will distribute nearly $1.4 million to 18 N.C. companies.

Among the small companies receiving funding is Haywood Landfill Gas of Matthews, which will receive $100,000 to develop an energy facility in Haywood County that will convert landfill gas to energy.

Concord-based SBM Solar Inc. will receive $100,000 to produce solar panels for commercial and residential buildings. SunQest Inc. of Newton will receive $50,718 to commercialize a solar-thermal system.

“North Carolina continues to position itself as a leader in the emerging green economy with these kinds of smart investments in promising technologies and products,” N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue says. “These creative entrepreneurs and businesses are turning green into gold by growing new companies and creating jobs.”

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

New Knoxville program helps laid-off workers reinvent selves in green jobs

With the help of a new Knoxville Tennessee Career Center program, about 22 workers laid off from Sea Ray Boats, Alcoa Inc. and other employers are reinventing themselves for careers in green jobs.

The center, at 1600 University Ave., has been hosting job fairs for the newly certified environmental technicians and has one planned 10 a.m.-noon Nov. 17. Companies have been invited to give presentations and meet with the job candidates, said Patrick Wade, career specialist in charge of the center’s effort.

“Generally, we will be holding these every Tuesday,” he said.

Two companies participated at a job fair last month. Emily Hatfield, career center manager, said she hopes for a better response as word of the program gets out.

“We will continue holding job fairs until we find jobs for this group of graduates,” she said.

Then, other training sessions might be offered, she said.

“This is a pilot program,” Hatfield said. “Depending on how well this goes, we may offer another class, probably in February.”

The program came about after she and Wade discussed the need to prepare displaced workers for green jobs, but found there was no place to get all the different training and certifications needed at once, Hatfield said. Certification for mold and asbestos abatement is done through the state and for hazardous waste operations through the federal government. Plus, courses tend to be expensive and out of reach of people who are out of work.

So, the center arranged with the International Chemical Workers Union Council, which has a nationally recognized HAZMAT training program, to offer the program locally.

The ICWUC held a five-week program that offered 40 hours in Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER), 30 hours in Occupational Health and Safety Administration construction, four days in mold remediation, 16 hours in lead-based paint remediation, four days in asbestos remediation and one day in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other first aid skills.

 Full Story Here: knoxnews.com

New reports tout benefits of “green” jobs

New reports on the potential for so-called “green” jobs say Nashville could benefit from $185 million in investments and more than 10,000 new jobs a year.

Many clean-energy related jobs like producing windmills and installing solar panels would not require a college degree. Almost 68% of Davidson County residents don’t have bachelor’s degrees.

According to The Tennessean, the green jobs reports were released by the Center for American Progress in Washington, Green for All in Oakland, Calif., and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst’s Political Economy Research Institute.

In Middle Tennessee, a task force on green jobs presented plans to Mayor Karl Dean and Gov. Phil Bredesen. They hope to create a Green Job Corps training program.

Source: WATE