Blog : Local Auditor Trains Vets To Be Green Professionals

By | Dec 18, 2009 | in

by Laura Roach

Paul Button, owner of Energy Audits Unlimited, has trained energy auditors before, but for the first time all of his students have one common background: they are all veterans. Upon returning home from service in Iraq or Afghanistan, veterans may face tribulation in reconnecting with civilian lifestyle. People like Button are working to provide discharged soldiers with valuable skills that will be in high demand in a future where energy efficiency is the standard.
Energy Audits Unlimited is based in Manchester, NH and serves most of New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts. The company provides residential and small commercial energy audits, helping home and business owners explore cleaner, healthier, and more efficient energy alternatives. Paul Button normally offers courses in Manchester for anyone interested in becoming a certified auditor.
Button decided to arrange a class specifically for veterans after he was contacted by The Veterans Northeast Outreach Center, Inc. of Haverhill, Massachusetts, a training network for retired soldiers. The Outreach Center had arranged for clients to be trained as building analyst professionals in the past but had decided to look for a training program with a different approach closer to home. Button’s curriculum satisfied the Outreach Center and to convenience the veterans living in Massachusetts he arranged to hold the course in Watertown, MA. He is currently training six students, his first entirely veteran class.
Button’s course provides basic auditing training approved by the Building Performance Institute (BPI), which is globally recognized for assuring quality in the field of construction. The course lasts a week and consists of lectures as well as practice audits in the field. The curriculum covers twelve topics including basic construction, heat transfer, insulation types and diagnostic testing. Button likes to promote discussion in his classroom and focuses on reducing test anxiety. By the third class he gave the students their first taste of auditing in the field. He asked the veterans to perform an audit on the Victorian-era building in which the class is held. Such hands-on training allows students to make mistakes and learn how to correct them in the future.
At the end of the week, when the students have completed the course, they will take an in-class, on-line examination. After passing the written portion of the certification, students must also complete an in-field proctored audit. To become familiar with the techniques of conducting energy audits, the students, on their way to becoming BPI certified, will be paid to audit the homes of other veterans free of charge as an instrumental part of a new program. This program has adopted the philosophy of “vets helping vets” and in return for energy audits will only ask homeowners to help out at the next audit by performing small tasks such as changing light bulbs and to consider being trained in the field of green energy themselves. The program relies on some homeowners becoming auditors-in-training and then analyzing the homes of other veterans. If it is successful, the program will promote the cycle of vets helping vets to make their houses more energy efficient and energy costs less burdensome. After completing audits in the program, the newly certified veterans will be able to find jobs with other auditing firms. Three of the students Button is currently working with have already been hired by Next Step Living of Boston.
Normally an auditing course with Paul Button is $775 to cover the costs of instruction, literature and the exam but for the veterans the training is 100% free. Soldiers who have been honorably discharged within the past 48 months are eligible for grants from the Department of Labor as part of the Veterans Workforce Investment Program to cover the costs civilian training. Button has also provided a discount of $100 for veterans. In this way they can be fully certified as energy auditors with no cost to themselves.
Button is hoping to start a similar training program for the veterans of New Hampshire. Providing a course for veterans locally would require the involvement of the Employment Security Guard Reserve. Button hopes to be in contact with the organization soon.
The field of sustainable energy is growing and a workforce will be needed to support it. Retraining veterans not only helps them become reintroduced to civilian life, it helps promote an industry that may save the planet. As Paul Button said, “What could be more fitting than to have those who have worn green [camouflage] in the service of their nation be the first in line for the green jobs of the future?”