YouthBuild USA Green Initiative
Since 1994, over 92,000 YouthBuild students across the country have the great pride of having built over 19,000 units of affordable, increasingly green, housing—the comfort of thousands of families in their communities and the incarnation of the rebuilding of their own lives. A force for youth and community transformation, YouthBuild is becoming a national leader in improving the affordability, quality, and environmental impact of affordable home construction and rennovation— the source of two-fifths of national energy consumption and extensive greenhouse gas emissions.
The worst environmental quality and health impacts continue to be located in impoverished communities and communities of color that already receive the least amount of resources for environmental protection and limited pathways out of poverty for their youth. YouthBuild USA's Green Initiative supports YouthBuild programs that are committed to unlocking the untapped energy and intellegence of disconnected young adults who want to reverse the disparity by seeking employment and education in the solutions to economic, environmental, and social problems.
America's construction industry has already undergone significant change in the interest of increased energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy, and more responsible environmental practices, capturing as much as 10% of the national market. The impending surge of a clean energy economy provides great opportunity for YouthBuild graduates to gain access to rewarding careers as new products, technology, and methods emerge in construction related industries. YouthBuild programs also benefit from the increasing demand for weatherization and other energy services, sustainable landscaping, deconstruction, and green building.
As YouthBuild program staff and students gain experience and grow as environmental leaders, they become part of the first wave of a newly trained green-savvy workforce that can help close the wage and career opportunity gaps that are prevalent in YouthBuild communities.
YouthBuild USA Green Intiative Accomplishments
The YouthBuild USA Green Initiative was launched in 2005 to support YouthBuild programs practicing green building and promoting green careers as integral parts of the program’s development of young leaders and pathways out of poverty. The Green Initiative provides YouthBuild programs with technical assistance, training, funding, publications, research and other supports that assist YouthBuild programs exersice their leadership in environmental responsibility.
Green Building Training: Between 2005 and 2008 YouthBuild USA and its training partner, Casa Verde YouthBuild, sponsored by American YouthWorks trained 148 YouthBuild staff in a comprehensive approach to green construction. Our experts teach affordable methods of green building and encourage YouthBuild programs and their housing partners to aspire to verify their improvement by adhering to a variety of green home rating programs such as LEED for Homes, EarthCraft, Earth Advantage, Green Communities, and the National Association of Home Builders, among others.
In 2006, with support from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the initiative trained about 40 students and staff in solar electric installation while facilitating six green building design charrettes, where students helped plan their program’s next building project to select a list of green building goals that are feasible. In 2007, with the support of Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s Renewable Energy Trust, YouthBuild USA completed six Green Design Charrettes in MA to accelerate their green building performance and prepare them to install solar electric systems.
In addition, the Green Initiative produced the green building guide Shades of Green, and a resource manual YouthBuild Green Pages, circulated five case studies of YouthBuild green building practitioners in YouthBuild Innovations, and conducted a 2005 benchmark survey that collected detailed information on the construction practices of 65 YouthBuild programs.
In 2008, the YouthBuild Green Initiative received support from the Wal-Mart Foundation to train staff from YouthBuild programs towards a national goal of building 50 units of green affordable housing while opening up career pathways for YouthBuild graduates in the green industries. Several of the YouthBuild programs we support are in the process of establishing or have established training programs in renewable energy, brownsfield remediation, deconstruction and materials reuse, weatherization and energy auditing, arboriculture and forest management. RESULT DATA!!
In 2009, with support of the U.S. Department of Labor..... trained an additional, 7 onsite visits, Shades of Green online interactive through Community of Practice,
Green Industry Career Pathways: In partnership with Eagle Eye Institute and The Trustees of Reservations, has completed a three-year demonstration project, Green Industry Career Pathways, in which six YouthBuild programs introduced their students to careers in arboriculture and forestry through a year-long skill building experience with career counseling, credentialing and employer collaboration and support. After the project, 25 student participants were employed as conservation technicians or were employed at other green businesses.
Green building, renewable energy, and energy conservation have become the entry points through which YouthBuild students and graduates trained in these skills join the growing green economy. In addition to training their young people to build green homes, weatherize and retrofit existing properties, and install renewable energy systems, YouthBuild programs also introduce students to energy auditing, land conservation, Brownfield remediation, lead abatement, and hazardous waste removal.
Green Business Development:
Environmental Community Service:
Environmental Literacy: With support from the U.S. Deparment of Labor the Green Initiative collaborated with the Education Department and the president of Diploma PLus, an expert in project-based lesson plans to produce 11 Green Building Education Modules for use by classroom instructors to merge green building job training with academic preparation for better reinforcement and preparation for green jobs in the construction industry.
YouthBuild USA Green Intiative Membership
YouthBuild USA has partnered with or is a member of the following organizations.
 
|
