Housing Innovation Award winners show that green careers can bring us a more resilient future

In every conversation, building industry stakeholders lament the tight labor market. From an aging workforce and skilled labor shortages to productivity, we know that to reach our country’s net-zero carbon goals, we need a robust workforce with high-quality jobs. In recognition of this, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is investing $30 million to support career-building pathways for high-performance green buildings. The Better Buildings Solutions Center provides both individuals and organizations with resources and information that connect training, education, and job opportunities to grow their careers and strengthen their workforce.     

Workforce development is being integrated across many DOE initiatives. As part of this year’s Housing Innovation Awards, we asked applicants how they support workforce development, and found they are doing everything from partnering with local high schools and trade partners to educating West Point engineer students.

Anthony Aebi of Zero Net Now in upstate New York, who won in the Housing Innovation Awards’ Custom Homes category, has always given back to the net-zero energy homes community by giving presentations at industry conferences where professionals can earn continuing education credits. He has also spent the past 10 years educating and coaching cadets on net-zero energy homes at the United States Military Academy at West Point’s Engineering Department. In fact, he supported the West Point Student Design Team that won the top prize for suburban single-family homes in the 2019 Solar Decathlon Design Challenge.

Tim O’Brien Homes, another winner in the Custom Homes category, partners with several high schools in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin, to develop their trade programs. Tim O’Brien writes, “the students actually work side-by-side with our trade partners and build the home together.” Like all Housing Innovation Award winners, they increase public and professional awareness of Zero Energy Ready Home benefits. During the pandemic, they moved their Green Construction Tours for Realtors and the general public online. Their “Building Sustainably with Tim O'Brien” podcast, featuring many well-known professionals in the industry, makes green building accessible to the public. Tim O’Brien Homes is committed to education and social responsibility and sees a future where, by working together, “we can make bigger changes for our country and the world.” With a core purpose of “Positively Impacting People's Lives,” Tim O’Brien Homes sees themselves as leaders in industry education and vocational development and thinks that high-performance homebuilders will be a step-ahead, especially in the eyes of younger buyers.

This year, special honors were given to the Davis School District Home Construction program for constructing an affordable, single-family home built with the help of students. The greatest challenge the school district faced was finding contractors and trades people that understand Zero Energy Ready Home requirements. The students received training from the general contractor who was hired as an instructor and the insulation contractor who donated labor and materials. Together, they gave students hands-on instructions on how to air-seal and insulate a home. Another partner showed them how to conduct blower door and duct blaster tests.

“We work to give students a basic knowledge of the construction industry and the skills involved. Building homes is part of that process, but more importantly, giving students skills and knowledge is key. Partnerships like this are vital to help shape the future of home building … If we can get students who are entering the workforce to reflect on their experience of building a zero-energy-ready home and question the status quo, we have achieved some measure of progress.”

With all of the support in the building industry for green careers and the education that industry professionals like Housing Innovation Award winners are providing, the future feels bright with opportunity for a more energy-efficient and resilient future.