Meeting the Challenge of Energy
Management in a Carbon-Constrained
World
A National Science Foundation
Grant Partnership
Alan Hardcastle
WSU Extension Energy Program
June 23, 2011
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1002931. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or
recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation .
Energy Efficiency
Trends and Employment
 Need for long-term investments in
EE.
 NWPPC-6th power plan: EE to meet
85% of new regional energy
demand by 2020
 EE-related investments in 2004
were $300 billion; supports 1.63
million jobs in US
 55% of all EE-related jobs are in
the buildings sector
 But—EE is still less than 1/3 of
annual energy spending
Source: ACEEE: American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy
NW Office Building Energy Use
EE Sector Job Growth Projections
Source: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
NEET Research Findings
Workforce Challenges

Retirements and Age Structure
~50% of workforce to retire in next five years.
Decline in working age cohorts over next 20 years
Particular shortage in the skilled trades and engineering programs

Employment in EE Broadly Distributed
Trade Allies (A&E, Contractors, Specialized Skills), ESCOs,
Government, Manufacturing, Utilities, Private Business (Microsoft,
J.C. Penny, Property Management Firms)
Disparate job classifications that are difficult to classify and
quantify
Key Themes From NEET Research
What’s Lacking:
• Strategic Coordination Among EE
Workforce Development Players
•
Stakeholders and providers
• Data on EE workforce development
•
Skills, positions, opportunities
• Funding for EE workforce
development
•
Economic recession, reduced budgets
Panelists
Douglas C. Smith

Stantec Consulting
Mari Anderson

McKinstry
 Mary E. Smith

Snohomish County PUD
Sean Bagsby

IBEW Local 46