GREENFIELD — Thanks to a $925,000 grant from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Community Action Pioneer Valley and Greenfield Community College will be able to expand the workforce of local weatherization technicians while helping Massachusetts make progress on its decarbonization goals.
Community Action, a nonprofit that provides supportive services to low-income individuals, will use its $750,000 grant to enroll residents in an eight-week training program for weatherization technicians and a two-week training program for weatherization crew chiefs who supervise the work. With GCC’s $175,000 grant, experts in the school’s workforce development division will teach adults over 18, who have the income eligibility requirements set by Community Action, the ins and outs of weatherizing homes and other buildings. The first training session is expected to start in June.
According to Samantha Wood, director of strategic innovation in the workforce development program at GCC, students will learn to eliminate leaks of cold or hot air in old homes by installing insulation with equipment like insulation blowers and other construction tools. Classes will take place outside the typical classrooms in storage trailers, tents and nearby houses. Students will assess the homes and install insulation in real time.
Peter Wingate, longtime weatherization specialist and energy director at Community Action Pioneer Valley, described weatherization as “real dirt under the fingernails” work.
“It’s a lot messier than a classroom,” Wood said.
Wood and Wingate stressed that closing barriers between buildings and the chill or heat outdoors with insulation improves energy efficiency.
“It really starts with making the homes we live in as energy efficient as possible, so that we don’t use any more fuel than absolutely necessary to keep them safe, warm and comfortable,” Wingate explained. “Electrification works great, but not if it runs up people’s heating bills.”
“Cooling and consistent cooling in our region as climate change happens is also a high priority,” Wood said. “Both extremes of temperature have a lot of impact on human health.”
The training program will also teach “general work readiness skills,” as Wood described, including expectations for attire and communication “so people are ready to succeed.” She added, “We don’t want anyone to feel blindsided.”
Wingate claimed that training locals to weatherize old buildings and install heat pumps and insulation would also cut the costs of these services.
“We see a link between clean energy and affordable energy, so our role is to make sure that as this is being done that people with lower incomes can afford the energy bill and have access to being part of this clean energy movement,” Wingate said.
While applying for the state grants, Wood and Wingate spoke with local weatherization companies like Bryan Hobbs Remodeling LLC. Bryan Hobbs described a shortage of local weatherization technicians who are trained to meet a constant demand for weatherizing old buildings. Wood, Wingate and Lisa Lapierre, director of youth and workforce development programs at Community Action, said the training program will aim to fill this gap, employ locals and help the state reach its decarbonization goals.
“It’s impossible to get to those goals without a workforce to do the work of transitioning our energy systems,” Wood said.
“Community Action is the region’s anti-poverty agency, so one of the best ways to help end poverty is employment,” Lapierre added. “We are always looking at opportunities for workforce development programs that meet the needs of our community, and knowing that we have this ongoing need of older homes in our region and homes that need modification and upgrades to be energy efficient … it’s a perfect meeting of two separate goals.”
Wood and Wingate described the weatherization training program as a first step into a field with avenues for growth down the line, including positions higher up on the career ladder like a crew chief or heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) technician.
“Energy efficiency is not going to go away, sustainability is not going to go away, so I think there is a possibility of a true career ladder that can start with this training program,” Wingate said.
When Wingate started his career in weatherization 38 years ago crawling into attics as an energy auditor, he not only had to climb the career ladder, he had to build one. He hopes the training program will give newcomers in the weatherization field “a little more control over where they’re going in the profession.”
After decades in the profession, Wingate insisted that weatherization has changed.
“I have to admit, looking at it, it’s not something I would have thought of for myself, but every few years, when I think it’s getting stale, something new comes along, and it’s all exciting and new again,” Wingate said. “You realize it’s a bigger world out there than you think it is. There are people doing what you’re doing all around the country — you are part of a movement. It’s still taking off.”
With a laugh, Wingate added, “I personally don’t see any way in the world that AI is going to be up in the attic doing the insulation in your ceiling. I think it’s always going to be one of us human beings.”