John A. Courson: A 2009 study by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) projected that green construction would contribute $554 billion to the national economy and that green jobs would increase fourfold to almost 7.6 million. HBI is in front of that trend as it has developed a series of training materials and programs that prepare instructors and students with the green building knowledge they need to progress in their careers. Career and Technical Education (CTE) and countless pre-apprenticeship programs across the U.S. already are implementing these HBI green materials.
HBI’s Residential Construction Academy (RCA) Series of textbooks incorporate key green building competencies students need to progress in their careers. In May 2010, HBI launched “Green Applications for Residential Construction,” a green compendia for each of the titles in the series. In the first quarter of 2013, HBI will issue three new textbooks on Green Building, Solar and Energy Efficiency. All RCA materials are developed to match the ICC700 National Green Building Standard™, the nationally-approved benchmark for green single-family and multifamily homes, site development and residential remodeling projects. The U.S. Department of Labor also recently approved solar and weatherization curriculum for HBI’s Job Corps programs nationwide. |