Wanted: More Inclusive Energy Efficiency Conferences

Welcome to The Accelerator+. This month Deb Dynako, a director of partnership development at Slipstream, issues a call to all energy professionals to expand our horizons when we travel to share insights, build consensus, and plan the future of the industry at all-important conferences.

While we all scramble to get end-of-year signatures and paperwork completed by December 31, many organizations have a hard-working staff getting ready for what comes next: An alphabet soup of Q1 conferences! ASHRAE, MEEA, AESP, BPA, ACEEE, and various topical DOE engagements are all set to bring the challenges of energy efficiency, resiliency, decarbonization, renewables, and the equitable workforce development (WFD) initiatives needed to support the implementation of this worker-dependent, holistic energy shift.

Slipstream will be out in force at these conferences, sharing our thought leadership though various panels and discussion sessions. Some highlights:

Jeannette LeZaks at MES 2024: To Infinity and Beyond: Workshopping the Buzz about Energy Codes.

Laura Manthe at AESP Annual Conference 2024: Indigenous Energy Security for a Resilient Future.

Justin Margolies at ACEEE Hot Water Forum: Heat Pumping in the Great Lakes Peninsulas: Lessons Learned from Heat Pump Contractor Education and Collaboration in Michigan.

When we think about the knowledge shared at these events, we must strive to be more inclusive to folks outside our historic conference attendee outreach. Each of the topics Slipstream will discuss—building codes, Indigenous energy security, contractor education—requires a skilled labor force to implement. And by now, we are all too familiar with the issues around capacity building that we see throughout our work.

Capacity building requires cultivating and supporting a new energy-focused workforce. WFD is key to moving our collective energy transition movement forward, and removing barriers to reach new energy workers is a challenge throughout the supply chain.

Many of the WFD panels I've attended relay these the challenges to a room of implementers and funders who genuinely seek solutions only to find that the answers lie in a splintered marketplace of utility pilot programs, technical college programs, state-supported initiatives, and various for-profit and nonprofit training organization–sponsored programs.

These panels can share the benefits or successes of partnerships outside of the usual purview of conferencegoers. However, that next step—actionable and meaningful new engagement with organizations that provide a skilled workforce to the industry—seems disconnected from these conversations, in my experience.

We also tend to neglect highlighting the great work of community-based organizations (CBOs) and places of worship that leverage shoestring budgets and a whole lot of passion to enhance the economic wealth and resilience of their communities through their own WFD initiatives. By their nature, these initiatives are hyper-localized, but, as we know, they are so very necessary to the successful implementation of energy efficiency measures—everywhere.

There are some job placement agencies and workforce-centered companies who do a great job liaising with CBOs and place-based organizations to bring new workers to the industry, but even these players need greater traction with funders and partner organizations to make bigger impacts.

Spotlighting these CBOs at the conferences should also be a priority. They can tell their own stories, open themselves to networking, and gain exposure to other funders and opportunities.

We understand how difficult it is for any organization to navigate the energy efficiency jobs challenge, as capacity building often falls outside our usual requirements to meet utility KPIs as an implementation measure. However, the human side of the WFD equation is often not recognized in this work. I've overheard conferencegoers say they "can't find qualified candidates," without a greater understanding of the market entry barriers for new and transitional workers as we seek to fill the gap in available employment opportunities, including soft skills, wraparound services, transportation hardships, resume-building, and connections to actual jobs. This greater understanding means opening our doors more widely to organizations outside the ones we "know."

Throughout my tenure in the energy efficiency industry, there has been a seismic shift in "who is in the room." As a woman, I've seen the demographics of our conference goers change for the better over time. I'm excited that inclusivity is gaining more traction in our industry, but I know we can do better…and do it more quickly.

As Slipstream continues to deliver on its mission of Accelerating Climate Solutions. For Everyone, we hold in high regard our role in workforce training and education initiatives. We see firsthand the challenges we face in bringing an upskilled workforce to the industry. We also know that, as in all things, it will take all of us to see the change we all desire. I'm optimistic that together, and in this era of funding abundance, we can be the change we want to see.

Contact Deb Dynako here on LinkedIn.

Highlights from this month's Accelerator

Hear from Keri Asevedo, Executive Director of Rockford Area Habitat for Humanity , on how new opportunities and new technologies benefit local families and the environment. See if you can spot the volunteers from Slipstream's Chicago office!

Plus: See how Slipstream and partners are working to support the acceleration of community-scale geothermal with the Clean Heat Infrastructure Accelerator.

Get the full Accelerator in your inbox

Subscribe to the email version of our newsletter here: