Create an easy-to-use program intake, participation, and support process.

  • Employ a one-stop shop approach that provides centralized outreach and communication, educational resources for both renters and owners, technical assistance and customer support, project management, and access to incentives and financing through a single entity. Structure the program so participants have a single, dedicated point of contact to guide them through the process. Ensure that the point of contact is sufficiently trained and has cultural competency. 

  • The Massachusetts Low-Income Energy Affordability Network (LEAN) multifamily program is notable as an integrated and well-coordinated one-stop shop program to serve owners and operators of low-income and affordable housing. The LEAN network includes CAAs, utilities, state agencies, and nonprofits. The program requires for-profit affordable housing owners to abide by an affordability period based on the level of incentives received. LEAN has served more than 220,000 residential dwelling units and delivered more than $100 million in energy savings since its inception. 
  • In Wilmington, DE, New Ecology runs Climate Smart Homes, which supports collaboration with development and community-based partners in the unsubsidized affordable housing sector to develop sustainable, high-performance housing for LMI households. The program also provides job training to develop the local workforce and organizes community-building. 

  • This guide from Innovate provides a step-by-step process for setting up a one-stop shop. While this organization is based in the United Kingdom, the information in the resource is still applicable for program administrators in the United States. 
  • Provide a single, consolidated application that serves as an entry point to the program. Create a no wrong door approach with categorical eligibility based on a household or property’s participation in other programs (e.g. the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), WAP, LIHTC, Section 8) and referrals provided to and from rental assistance programs, housing counseling, legal support, and utility incentive programs.1 By ”no wrong door,” we mean that participants use one single application to enter the program and are referred by their point of contact in the program to services for which they are eligible.  Avoid eligibility processes that are overly restrictive or onerous for applicants. 

  • The Philadelphia Energy Authority’s Built to Last program is a one-stop shop that coordinates multiple agencies to provide services for low-income homeowners, including home repair, energy efficiency and solar upgrades, housing and health counseling, and legal services. The Built to Last program provides a single application, “no wrong door” approach to coordinating services and program eligibility across multiple agencies.  Built to Last layers multiple funding sources including public, philanthropic, and microfinancing to provide comprehensive services to stabilize low-income homeowners in their homes, preventing displacement and preserving housing options for the future.
  • The EnergySmart Program in Boulder County, Colorado offers energy efficiency and electrification upgrades for residents. The program pairs participants with Energy Advisors (a single point of contact) who can help identify the best upgrades and recommend contractors. The program also offers rebates, tax credits, and other financial incentives to make upgrades more affordable for participants.
  • The NYC Accelerator program in New York City is structured so that, after attending an in-person event or contacting the program through its website, building owners and representatives are paired with an account manager, a single dedicated point of contact who helps the program user determine what local laws they must comply with, what local incentives and programs they are eligible for, and which efficiency and retrofit work may be good options for their building. For more information on this program, please see this case study, part of guidelines for creating community-driven building retrofit programs assembled by the Building Electrification Institute (BEI), Elevate, and C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.

Design program in coordination with partners.

  • Ensure that program elements coordinate with existing programs provided by utilities, nonprofits, and local and state agencies. 

  • Washington, DC, hired a local affordable housing nonprofit to engage a roundtable of affordable housing owners for recommendations on how to design BPS rules to make compliance feasible for affordable housing. 
  • EmPOWER Maryland, the state’s energy efficiency program, provides funds through different initiatives that reduce energy usage and promote the adoption of renewable energy. The program coordinates multiple utilities to offer financial incentives for residential and commercial customers. The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, the state’s housing finance agency, runs the state’s Limited Income Energy Efficiency Program under the EmPOWER umbrella, which provides energy efficiency services at no cost to low-income households. 
  • LISC Massachusetts and New Ecology provide a series of case studies for integrating energy efficiency work into the existing affordable housing sector’s requirements and timeline. One example is Atwood Acres, a 50-unit senior housing facility partially funded by HUD’s Section 8 Program. This project exemplifies the seamless integration of green retrofitting into existing affordable housing timelines. After a quarter century, the building faced failing hot water and heating systems. To tackle these issues, the owners took advantage of the Massachusetts Green Retrofit Initiative (MAGRI), which offers comprehensive energy management services, ensuring the facility’s upgrade aligns with efforts to enhance living conditions while maintaining affordability. Other related case studies include Treehouse at Easthampton Meadow, Nonantum Village Place Apartments. 
  • Establish robust partnerships with CBOs, government agencies (including state and local housing finance agencies), utilities, renters’ associations and renters’ rights groups, finance and lending institutions, affordable housing experts, and other interested entities so program offerings are well coordinated. 

  • Minneapolis collaborated across the city’s economic development and sustainability agencies on the 4d Program, a program to preserve housing and provide energy incentives. This program is administered jointly by the health and housing departments. 
  • The Weatherization Plus Health Program in Washington State is a $15 million initiative funded by the state legislature to weatherize low-income homes and enhance the residents’ health with healthy-home interventions. This program, eligible for homes under WAP and LIHEAP, is designed to merge social services and health programs with existing weatherization efforts. The impact of this integration is twofold: It allows for the use of funds beyond the constraints of DOE regulations and fosters stronger community ties through partnerships with local healthcare providers and nonprofits, ultimately aiming to reduce health burdens. 
  • Efficiency Works, an initiative operating in northern Colorado, sought to boost participation of its home retrofit initiative through targeted outreach and addressing one of the biggest barriers to initiative participation: consumer trust in contractors and contractor transparency. It is a partnership between a local utility provider and Fort Collins. 

  • The Better Buildings Residential Network website from DOE provides strategies developed to maintain strong strategic partnerships with trusted local companies and organizations as part of the Healthy Homes Incentive Program’s goal to complete 100 home energy upgrade projects. There are additional useful case studies available in DOE’s partnership toolkit. 

Prioritize the most energy insecure and disadvantaged LMI households to receive upgrades.

2 Energy insecurity” is characterized by households falling behind on their energy bills, forgoing payment of other bills and necessities like food or medicine to keep the lights or heat on, or using risky strategies such as heating their homes with an oven or taking out a high-interest payday loan to pay for their energy needs. See: Stefen Samarripas and Andrea Lee. 2022. “One-Third of Tenants Behind on Utility Bills, Highlighting Need for Energy Upgrades.” ACEEE Blog, August 17.
  • Target offerings to LMI households and ensure that multiple ownership structures and types of affordable housing (including both subsidized and unsubsidized) are eligible for program offerings, depending on community needs. Seek alignment with the affordable housing sector’s regulations and potential complementary funding sources (e.g. Low-Income Housing Tax Credit). 

  • Efficiency Vermont, a statewide regulated energy efficiency utility, offers various programs, incentives, and rebates to encourage its customers to retrofit homes and buildings. The organization’s Targeted High Use (THU) program incentivizes direct install of efficiency and electrification measures such as appliances, heat pumps, and heat pump water heaters to qualifying houses with high electricity use. This program is promoted to customers who are deemed likely to be income eligible, use 5,000 kWh per year or more, and have an energy burden greater than 6%. 
  • Washington, DC’s Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF) was launched in 1988 with the goal of producing affordable housing. The fund, which requires construction of buildings at or near net zero, has been structured to align with the District’s LIHTCs, Housing Equity Report, Clean Energy Omnibus Act, and the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act. The D.C. Sustainable Energy Utility (DCSEU), in partnership with the District Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) and the DC Green Bank, offers enhanced technical and financial assistance to owners and managers of qualifying affordable multifamily buildings that do not meet the District’s BPS through the Affordable Housing Retrofit Accelerator. 
  • Minneapolis offers a robust package of incentives for rental property owners through the 4d Program to reduce property tax liability, improve energy efficiency and, if applicable, address needed repairs in aging buildings. The primary goal of the program is to preserve affordability, reduce energy use, and enhance healthy homes to support renters and strengthen the bottom line for property owners. 

  • This ACEEE report focuses on policy approaches that yield equitable energy efficiency programs. It advises on how to effectively engage and serve residential customer populations that untargeted programs do not serve well. 
  • RMI’s Multifamily Affordable Housing Decarbonization Toolkit explains various challenges facing multifamily affordable housing and includes useful programmatic recommendations. This is a toolkit that is being developed on an ongoing basis with input from workshops scheduled in the Spring and Summer of 2024.

Build accountability into the program.

  • Plan and budget for regular evaluation and adjustment to ensure the program is making enough progress toward goals. 

  • Rhode Island’s Energy Efficiency Working Group is an example of how equitable community engagement can improve program evaluation. One of the group’s initial meetings in 2021 focused on metrics and data collection. Members proposed benchmarking participant data by demographic categories and household energy characteristics, tracking late payments and shutoffs, and aligning energy efficiency program goals with public health goals. National Grid incorporated some of these recommendations into its 2022 Annual Plan. 

  • This DOE Handbook provides information on program evaluation and data collection. 
  • Establish processes for regularly reporting back to engaged communities for transparency and accountability. 

  • PUSH Buffalo’s Green Development Zone emerged from a Community Congress model of community-driven neighborhood planning. After winning a campaign targeting a New York State housing agency that was using its control of vacant houses and lots in Buffalo for financial speculation, residents won millions of dollars and laid the groundwork for a new local economy in Buffalo’s Westside. PUSH and a range of partners grew these efforts into a 25-square block Green Development Zone that links green infrastructure, affordable housing, local food systems, and energy efficiency. In this example, resident leadership and capacity-building were key to building solutions that addressed the root causes of poverty and blight. 
  • Milwaukee developed a Rental Rehabilitation Loan Program in consultation with CBOs, small neighborhood developers, and lenders. It holds quarterly meetings with residents, neighborhood groups, community development corporations, churches, and local businesses to get feedback, listen to housing concerns, and address code compliance. 
  • Establish community and/or workforce benefits agreements between the program and community members. 

  • The Sabin Center at Columbia University has established a national database of Community Benefits Agreements (CBA), which are legally enforceable contracts between developers and local communities or municipalities, aimed at balancing the impacts of significant infrastructure projects with benefits tailored to the community’s needs. This resource accompanies a guide on best practices for CBAs, providing both monetary and non-monetary benefits to communities, while offering developers increased support and certainty in project approvals. 
  • In partnership with Emerald Cities San Francisco, the Mission Housing Development Corporation (MHDC) and its general contractor/construction manager committed to a Community Workforce Agreement for a deep energy efficiency project for affordable housing units owned by MHDC. Among their commitments, they agreed on a goal to hire residents from the buildings and ZIP codes in which the work was being performed, as well as disadvantaged residents from San Francisco, to perform at least one-third of the work hours on each project. 
  • Somerville, MA’s Union Square Community Benefits Agreement pledges to prioritize local hiring for construction jobs, bolstering the economy and providing practical training opportunities through a local career and technical education program at the regional high school. Additionally, it offers relocation benefits to existing businesses, opportunities for new spaces in redevelopment, and a robust funding commitment to affordable housing, underlining a commitment to sustainable and inclusive growth. 

  • DOE’s CBA Toolkit includes a comprehensive guide, FAQs, and presentation slides to educate stakeholders on the value and process of CBAs. These agreements are strategic partnerships that provide communities with direct benefits like local hiring and economic contributions in return for supporting development projects, fostering mutual gains for developers, governments, and communities. This approach aligns the interests of all parties, ensuring that government officials and developers support community needs while also achieving their own objectives. 
  • The Department of Labor’s Good Jobs Initiative offers a Resource Guide that introduces and compares Project Labor, Community Workforce, and Community Benefits Agreements. 
  • Emerald Cities Collaborative’s “Anatomy of an Effective Community Workforce Agreement” provides a framework to bring innovation to the traditional Project Labor Agreement and to give life and meaning to a new social compact among a city, labor, and the community. 
  • Provide for quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) inspection, project wrap-up, and ongoing monitoring of finished projects.3  This practice encourages building upgrade work that is high in quality rather than just low in price.

  • Energy Outreach Colorado (EOC) was created by the State of Colorado as an independent nonprofit one-stop shop for low-income energy services. All projects in the multifamily weatherization and nonprofit energy efficiency programs undergo oversight and onsite inspections. EOC also provides contractor training on requirements and standards and monitors bill savings to ensure programs are performing as expected and that benefits are reaching low-income households. 

Ensure the program provides health and safety measures.

  • Incorporate upgrade offerings, such as mold and asbestos remediation, that improve resident health, safety, and comfort. Ensure program provides or engages existing pre-weatherization offerings to lower barriers to participation. 

  • Michigan’s lead health services initiative with in-home environmental assessment was a six-year initiative to mitigate in-home health risks for Children’s Health Insurance Program–eligible children. The initiative removed lead hazards from paint, dust, plumbing fixtures, and soil. 
  • In Florida, the St. John’s Housing Partnership offers repair services for single-family homeowners. By covering the upfront costs and easing the burden of underlying repairs, the partnership increases participation in its energy efficiency program (including comprehensive upgrades and direct installation). 
  • The Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) runs the Weatherization Barrier Remediation Program to assist households that are deferred from WAP. Using funding from multiple sources, including the American Rescue Plan Act and the State Energy Program, the program aims to address health issues like mold and asbestos to prepare income-eligible households for weatherization. 
  • In Denver, the Energy Outreach Colorado’s Healthy Homes Program provides free energy efficiency improvements to improve indoor air quality for income-qualified Denver residents living with breathing conditions. For more information on this program, please see this case study, part of guidelines for creating community-driven building retrofit programs assembled by the Building Electrification Institute (BEI), Elevate, and C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. 

  • This manual from the CDC is a comprehensive guide to understanding multiple aspects of a healthy home. It also discusses the history of affordable housing in the United States. 
  • Require that service providers use healthier building materials that minimize harm to manufacturers, installers, and building occupants and use best practices for ventilation and promoting indoor air quality. 

  • New York City requires developers of affordable housing to comply with the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria. Under these guidelines, developers must avoid formaldehyde-based insulation and are incentivized to avoid two-part spray polyurethane foam and board insulation with halogenated flame retardants. 
  • The Association for Energy Affordability (AEA), the implementer of California’s Low Income Weatherization Multi-Family component (LIWP-MF) has technical specifications that require formaldehyde-free blown insulation and fiberglass batt insulation, unfaced fiberglass batts for several applications instead of faced batts (which may contain unhealthy chemicals), and low volatile organic compounds (VOC) water-based duct mastic for duct sealing. 
  • Efficiency Vermont worked with Vermont’s WAP to improve healthy housing for low-income residents. Interventions included whole-home weatherization, advanced ventilation, and appliance replacements. These “energy-plus-health” upgrades aimed to improve indoor air quality while reducing residents’ energy burdens. 
  • The City of Fort Collins, CO, runs a Healthy Homes Program that aims to improve indoor air quality for Fort Collins residents. The program offers free home assessments to help residents address hazards like radon, particulate matter, and asbestos. 

Ensure the program streamlines how users access funding.

  • To fill funding gaps, leverage and layer a variety of funding sources in addition to the primary program funding source (e.g. government, philanthropic, utility, private, tax credits). 

  • Montgomery County, MD, and Washington, DC, both created green banks to finance clean energy projects. The State of Massachusetts recently launched a green bank based within its state housing finance agency. 
  • The Efficiency Navigator in Middleton and Madison, WI, focuses on small- and medium-sized multifamily housing, seeking to promote affordability, equity, resilience, and efficiency. This program provides a strong example of an equity- and climate-focused fund braiding strategy for affordable multifamily housing. The program’s success is a function of its effective fund-braiding strategy; it used a combination of philanthropic, federal, state, nonprofit, and utility funding (a total of nine discrete funding sources) to cover research, administrative, and improvement costs. By leveraging an array of funding sources, program designers were able to maximize reach and effectiveness, funding more than $195,000 in building improvements and saving an average of $300–500 in energy costs per building annually. For more information on this program, please see this case study, part of guidelines for creating community-driven building retrofit programs assembled by the Building Electrification Institute (BEI), Elevate, and C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. 
  • The Rhode Island Green and Healthy Homes Initiative uses Lead Hazard Control grant funding to provide a range of healthy housing services. Funds have helped repair homes to reduce weatherization deferrals. 
  • In Philadelphia, the Built to Last program uses a partnership between the Philadelphia Energy Authority (PEA) and Philadelphia Green Capital Corp (PGCC) to help identify and close funding gaps through layering and streamlining existing fundings sources and services. For more information on this program, please see this case study, part of guidelines for creating community-driven building retrofit programs assembled by the Building Electrification Institute (BEI), Elevate, and C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. 

  • This guidebook from C40 was developed to help mayors and their staff understand the climate provisions included in the IRA and opportunities for local governments. The guidebook details the major programs that fund local government directly, those available to CBOs, programs administered through states, and the consumer and business tax credits. For each, it describes what the funding can be used for, how it will flow, and the process and timeline for accessing resources. 
  • Provide a menu of available financing options and explain them transparently to program users. 

  • The EPA Clean Energy Financing Toolkit is intended to help decision makers understand the basics of a range of financing programs across multiple sectors, view examples from state and local jurisdictions, and access additional resources to learn more. 
  • To determine financing options and answer funding-related questions, program administrators can use or direct program users to consult various available tools, including the AFFORD tool (for finding a comprehensive listing of available funding sources), EWG Funding Opportunities, ENERGY STAR’s Home Improvement Savings finder, and R2E2’s guides to funding sources and federal funding FAQs, which includes resources on federal efficiency and electrification rebates, HUD’s Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP), and answers to frequently asked questions about various federal funding sources. Program administrators may also use RMI’s Green Upgrade Calculator to help program users understand the potential impacts of different decarbonization approaches.  
  • Cover a large share (at least 75–80%), if not all of the total upfront cost of scopes of work. 

  • In Seattle, the Multifamily Weatherization Program provides energy grants that can cover up to 90% of project costs. Seattle’s Office of Housing provides project management services at no cost, but to be eligible, building owners must commit to keeping rents affordable for at least three years and at least half of tenants must meet income qualifications. 
  • Participants of Energize Connecticut’s Multifamily Initiative earn incentives if they upgrade at least two measures from different end uses. Market-rate properties are eligible for incentives that cover up to 75% of the project cost, while income-eligible properties can receive up to 90% of costs in incentives. 
  • Maximize the use of non-debt funding over debt for the program’s work. When using loans, make no-cost, low-cost, or forgivable loans available. 

  • The Multifamily Energy Efficiency and Housing Affordability (MEEHA) program is administered by Maryland’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). One of the keys to MEEHA’s success is its flexibility to structure project funding as loans or grants. Many participants must receive the funding as a loan or as a grant based on their tax liability (nonprofit versus for-profit) or existing outstanding project debt. Without this flexibility in financing structure, many properties would not be able to participate in the program. This flexibility makes more properties eligible and allows the inclusion of MEEHA funding in more complex financing structures, as typically seen in LIHTC projects that DHCD finances. 
  • Ensure financing options do not burden low-income households, include financing options for participants with low or no credit scores, and have proper consumer protections in place. 

  • The Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation’s Rental Improvement Fund in Philadelphia gives rental property owners who own fewer than 15 units the opportunity to carry out necessary repairs on aging units while also preventing rent spikes. The fund offers two different forgivable loan options to eligible landlords: a 10-year loan worth $10,000–24,999 per property and a 15-year 0% interest loan worth $25,000–50,000 per property. The maximum loan amount for a single rental property owner is $100,000. The loan can be used for essential home repairs that address habitability, health, and safety concerns and energy or water efficiency upgrades.  
  • California’s LIWP offers a flexible incentive structure to help overcome split incentives and reduce upfront costs for homeowners, renters, and property owners while still rewarding comprehensive upgrades. LIWP also requires owners to abide by a 10-year low-income eligibility requirement from the date of receiving incentives. 
  • Include supplemental funding sources to pay for needed structural, electrical, plumbing, and other health and safety repairs that pose barriers to participation. 

  • Pennsylvania’s Whole-Home Repair Program provides grants up to $50,000 per home or unit to fund work that addresses habitability concerns, improves energy or water efficiency, or makes units accessible for individuals with disabilities. 
  • Energy Outreach Colorado (EOC) implements Xcel Energy’s low-income programs. EOC leverages funds from utility rebates, government funding, and donor funds to address health and safety and other needed repairs and measures. Xcel Energy provides $275,000 in utility funds per year to address health and safety threats tied to energy savings, such as boiler and furnace tune-ups, replacements, and water heater replacements. 
  • Austin Energy, the municipal electric utility in Austin, TX, works in collaboration with the City of Austin Neighborhood Housing Program, the Green and Healthy Home Initiative, and local housing repair coalition nonprofits in a referral network. This network provides structural and roofing repairs to low-income customers, and Austin Energy’s WAP provides the weatherization components. 
  • LEAN in Massachusetts is a network of community action agencies, public and private housing owners, government organizations and public utilities that work together to provide low-income efficiency solutions in the state. These agencies work alongside utilities to administer energy efficiency programs. CAP agencies leverage additional funding from DOE and DHCD for heating systems and health and safety repairs. Community action programs (CAP) leverage utility funds and WAP funds for repairs of health and safety measures such as knob and tube removal, asbestos removal, combustion safety, mold and moisture remediation, roof repair, pest remediation and others. 
  • In Denver, the Building Electrification Incentive Program and Healthy Homes Pilot both help building owners connect with additional local, utility, and federal funding sources to cover the costs of building upgrades. This case study is part of guidelines for creating community-driven building retrofit programs assembled by the Building Electrification Institute (BEI), Elevate, and C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. 

  • DOE’s Financing Program Implementation Primer provides an overview of key considerations for state and local policymakers, utility energy efficiency program administrators, and program partners such as financial institutions and contractors in designing and implementing successful energy efficiency financing programs for existing buildings in the residential and commercial sectors. 
  • If possible, cover the full cost of replacing failing or unsafe appliances. 

  • Massachusetts’ LEAN has recently expanded its criteria to include electrification upgrades, such as space heating and hot water system replacements, insulation and air sealing, lighting and appliance retrofits, water efficiency measures, appliance replacement, and other energy-saving measures that meet the cost-effectiveness criteria. 
  • Boston’s Healthy and Green Retrofit pilot program creates a custom green retrofit plan for participants’ buildings, which includes replacing appliances. To do this work, building owners may receive up to $50,000 per unit, assistance accessing energy efficiency financial incentives, construction management services including bidding and hiring a general contractor, and construction oversight and inspections throughout the process. 

Ensure the program helps build out a local green workforce.

  • Compile a list of workforce certifications and credentials (e.g., OSHA-30, BPI Energy Auditor) that program service providers must have. 

  • The NYSERDA Andromeda Community Initiative in New York trains and certifies workers from underserved communities to become entry-level construction workers with a focus on skills in energy-efficient building operations and maintenance, weatherization, and carbon emissions reduction. The seven-week training program includes classroom work and hands-on projects that allow students to gain experience and earn certifications that prepare them for a wide range of green jobs upon graduation from the program. 
  • The California Advanced Lighting Controls Training Program (CALCTP) is a partnership among the California utilities, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), and industry partners. Licensed electricians are eligible to participate in CALCTP, which certifies workers to install and conduct inspections on advanced lighting control systems. Several thousand workers statewide have attained the certification, which is required for state building code inspections and for utility-administered, ratepayer-funded commercial lighting projects.4Stackable credentials are an interlocking series of credentials that demonstrate a worker has accomplished a greater specificity of skills within a particular trade. They are often designed to be achieved sequentially and “stack” on top of broad occupation-wide credentials or licenses, such as an electrician’s license. Training current workers to receive stackable credentials equips them with demonstrable skills needed to advance in their career and provides employers with skills necessary to construct, install, and maintain clean energy and energy efficiency technologies.  

  • To support the development of a robust building systems workforce, DOE recognizes training and certification programs that are aligned with DOE goals. Programs recognized as Energy Skilled cover key occupations and knowledge areas relevant to DOE’s mission. 
  • Provide resources for potential job candidates in the community regarding existing training programs. 

  • DCSEU’s workforce development program in Washington, DC, connects District residents to five-month paid green job externships with local organizations. Participants work with mentors, access energy efficiency training and credentials, gain job and soft skill development, and receive job placement support.  
  • Building Futures, a workforce partnership program in Providence, RI, helps people with low incomes attain careers in the commercial construction industry through a registered apprenticeship system. 

  • This Career Map from the Building Innovation Hub is designed for a broad audience, including educators, career advisors, job seekers, employers, policymakers, and workforce professionals, with the goal of inspiring the next generation to enter the building performance industry. The map demonstrates the breadth of the green buildings industry, some of its critical occupations, and the multitude of advancement routes between jobs and sectors. 
  • Through program offerings and partnerships, identify barriers to building a diverse workforce and deploy strategies to hire local underrepresented groups into good-paying local jobs. Track the creation of these jobs. 

  • Red Cloud Renewables is an Oglala Lakota-led organization on the Pine Ridge Reservation that provides free, place-based workforce development opportunities for Native Americans. It is a pre-apprenticeship readiness program that includes training on how to perform energy assessments and complete retrofit projects, while focusing on home safety and occupant health measures. It has successfully worked with more than 70 tribes since 2002 and has created more than 600 jobs in weatherization, solar installation, and sustainable home building. 
  • NYSERDA Pay for Success Clean Energy Training is an energy efficiency job training program targeted toward low-wage workers, youth, and unemployed individuals. Funding came from the Social Impact Partnerships to Pay for Results Act. 
  • In 2018, the Mayor’s Office of Nashville, TN, announced the launch of the NES Home Energy Uplift (HEU) Program, a weatherization program for limited-income homeowners in Davidson County. The program was created through a collaboration with Nashville Electric Service (NES) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and receives funding from the TVA and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati. The City of Nashville was awarded a $300,000 grant from the Southeast Sustainable Communities Fund (SSCF) to create an energy efficiency workforce training program at the Nashville Career Advancement Center (NCAC). The program addressed the need for retrofit technicians for the Home Energy Uplift Program, while providing low-income or unemployed/underemployed Nashville residents with training, industry-recognized certification, and career pathways in the energy efficiency sector. 
  • LISC Boston offers Financial Opportunity Centers that provide employment, career counseling, and one-on-one financial coaching, and help participants learn about building credit, savings, and assets. LISC Boston’s workforce development offerings also include the Bridges to Career Opportunities program, which helps students fill critical education gaps related to math and literacy, and the Bridges to Green Jobs program, a two-week training program designed to prepare residents of Greater Roxbury for entry-level weatherization technician positions. 

  • This report from the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) provides useful data and background for building diversity into the U.S. energy workforce. 
  • The American Council on Renewable Energy’s (ACORE) Accelerate Membership Program is a cohort-based program that supports women and minority-led renewable energy companies by connecting them to resources, including complimentary access to events, exclusive briefings, tools, and advocacy.   
  • Identify product suppliers from underrepresented groups and incorporate them into program offerings. 

  • The RENEW program, led by Emerald Cities Collaborative, brought together the community, representatives from organized labor, and the City of San Francisco to implement building upgrades. These stakeholders crafted a community workforce agreement that included requirements for apprenticeship utilization and the employment of minority- and women-owned business enterprises. The program also provided energy savings to residents of affordable housing units and good-paying union jobs. This project demonstrated several actionable ways to engage residents, such as having representatives of the community at the negotiating table, using a facilitator to effectively communicate the needs of a community, and increasing supplier diversity, achieved through a partnership. 

  • Emerald Cities Collaborative and PolicyLink created a comprehensive guide to procurement and contracting called “Inclusive Procurement and Contracting: Building a Field of Policy and Practice.” This guide details specific strategies to increase participation of small MWBEs. 
  • ACEEE has identified local governments that have inclusive contracting policies and/or energy workforce development programs, several of them equity focused. This brief provides a review of current city efforts, an overview of policy options, and case studies of programs from Orlando, FL, and Chattanooga, TN, that can serve as examples for other cities to adopt. 
  • Provide or link to opportunities for upskilling, credentialing, and certification for the existing workforce. 

  • The DC Sustainability Energy Utility in Washington, DC, offers DC residents 5-month paid externships working in green industries. More than 85% of participants in the program move on to full-time positions, creating a larger workforce to help with future energy efficiency activities. 
  • Provide education to contractors in related trades on the benefits of adding efficiency and electrification work to their current services. 

  • In California, the Technology and Equipment for Clean Heating Program (known as TECH Clean California) included training for contractors on integrating electrification into their services, as well as ongoing business model support to help contractors re-tool their businesses to integrate electrification. 
  • Encourage program service providers to pay prevailing wages where not already required.5 The prevailing wage rate is defined as the average wage paid to similarly employed workers in a specific occupation. For more information on prevailing wages, see the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Prevailing Wage Resources page.  

  • NYSERDA’s Green Careers and Training resource highlights case studies from New York’s clean energy transition, which is creating thousands of new jobs across a range of sectors in the clean energy economy. 
  • The Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) in Portland, OR, upholds workforce and contractor equity standards for projects receiving funding. By law, payments for work funded by PCEF must be at least 180% of the relevant state minimum wage. PCEF’s wage requirement applies to workers paid by the grantee and by contractors and subcontractors of the project, including office staff. For projects with construction budgets (hard and soft costs) that include PCEF funds of at least $350,000 at a single site there is an additional requirement of prevailing wage payment to workers in trades for which a prevailing wage is defined, excluding projects with privately owned, predominantly affordable residential housing construction. 
  • Provide support and help contractors bring on apprentices to create long-term career pathways in building upgrades. 

  • The Boston Housing Authority (BHA) facilitated a PLA that created approximately 600 jobs for local union workers and public housing and low-income city residents and helped establish the Building Pathways Program, a free, six-week pre-apprenticeship program aimed at connecting those underrepresented in the construction industry with opportunities in the building trades. 
  • The San Francisco Public Utility Commission in San Francisco established the Contractor’s Assistance Center, where contractors can gain access to information about projects and the technical and financial resources needed to compete for subcontracts. 
  • Provide training to service providers on the impact of quality processes and practices on long-term building performance. 

  • Emerald Cities Collaborative’s E-Contractor Academy is a seven-week training program where women- and minority-owned business enterprise contractors learn to perform energy efficiency and renewable energy retrofit projects. The program typically involves a collaboration between a local or regional government entity and a local financial institution. Participating contractors learn about the regulatory and technical demands of green infrastructure projects. They also learn to bid and manage large-scale projects that include labor and community workforce standards typical of government, schools, hospitals and other institutions. Training is tailored to specific projects and is also applicable to large-scale green infrastructure projects. The E-Contractor Academy includes a strategic, comprehensive business support program to ensure that small and minority firms are in the forefront of the emerging green building/construction industry. 
  • The Center for Energy and Environment (CEE) offers paid training to join the clean energy and energy efficiency sector. The program prioritizes training people of color and women from communities across the Twin Cities that have been underrepresented in the industry. Past graduates have gone on to work as energy auditors, insulation installers, line workers, and contractors. 

  • Zero Energy Now program contractors are certified by the Building Performance Institute (BPI), National Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Partners, and members of the Building Performance Professionals Association of Vermont (BPPA-VT). 
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    By ”no wrong door,” we mean that participants use one single application to enter the program and are referred by their point of contact in the program to services for which they are eligible. 
  • 2
    Energy insecurity” is characterized by households falling behind on their energy bills, forgoing payment of other bills and necessities like food or medicine to keep the lights or heat on, or using risky strategies such as heating their homes with an oven or taking out a high-interest payday loan to pay for their energy needs. See: Stefen Samarripas and Andrea Lee. 2022. “One-Third of Tenants Behind on Utility Bills, Highlighting Need for Energy Upgrades.” ACEEE Blog, August 17.
  • 3
     This practice encourages building upgrade work that is high in quality rather than just low in price.
  • 4
    Stackable credentials are an interlocking series of credentials that demonstrate a worker has accomplished a greater specificity of skills within a particular trade. They are often designed to be achieved sequentially and “stack” on top of broad occupation-wide credentials or licenses, such as an electrician’s license. Training current workers to receive stackable credentials equips them with demonstrable skills needed to advance in their career and provides employers with skills necessary to construct, install, and maintain clean energy and energy efficiency technologies. 
  • 5
    The prevailing wage rate is defined as the average wage paid to similarly employed workers in a specific occupation. For more information on prevailing wages, see the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Prevailing Wage Resources page.