NEEP has recently partnered with the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) to join the EMPOWERED program, a U.S. Department of Energy-funded initiative providing free education and training on clean energy safety and installation to building professionals. NEEP’s participation in the project will accelerate the adoption of energy efficient and clean energy technologies as we build an affordable, sustainable, and resilient energy future.
“NEEP is excited to join IREC and our fellow REEOs as partners on the EMPOWERED program,” said John Balfe, NEEP Senior Manager, State and Community Solutions. “Partnerships like these are imperative to growing and diversifying the clean energy workforce in a more collaborative way to promote economic growth and climate change solutions across the country.”
Fact-based education is critical to the safe, widespread, and rapid deployment of technologies that reduce energy usage and make the grid more sustainable and resilient. These include grid-interactive energy efficient building technologies, solar, energy storage systems, and electric vehicles. The EMPOWERED program unites and informs stakeholders across the country on the implementation of energy efficiency, clean energy codes and standards, and innovative adoption of technologies.
“Giving building and safety officials the tools they need to work with distributed energy resources is essential to the clean energy transition,” said Larry Sherwood, President and CEO of IREC. “We are excited to have NEEP join the EMPOWERED program; by connecting their regional networks with its valuable educational resources, they will further expand the already significant reach of this important initiative.”
The EMPOWERED program has already created widely-accessed resources that are in active use across the nation. Over 75,000 professionals in all 50 states have utilized the resources found on the program’s two websites: CleanEnergyClearinghouse.org and CleanEnergyTraining.org. Downloadable guides and checklists as well as webinar recordings are housed on the Clearinghouse. CleanEnergyTraining.org hosts CEU-bearing permitting and inspection courses. All resources are free to the public, vetted by industry professionals, and designed for practical application in the field.
NEEP joins a roster of expert organizations working collaboratively on the program. In addition to IREC, which leads the initiative, that includes the International Code Council (ICC); International Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI); National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL); Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC); Southface Institute, New Buildings Institute (NBI), Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance (SEEA), South-Central Partnership for Energy Efficiency as a Resource (SPEER), SouthWest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP), and the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA).
EMPOWERED stands for Educational Materials for Professional Organizations Working on Efficiency and Renewable Energy Developments. It is a collaborative grant program funded jointly by the Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)’s Solar Energy Technologies Office, Building Technologies Office, and Vehicle Technologies Office.