• Research Report
  • Homes and Buildings
  • Utilities and the Power Sector

    • Feb 18, 2025

    Building a Workforce for Energy-Efficient Homes

    New report profiles programs that are expanding the residential energy-efficiency workforce

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    A technician repairing a heat pump on the exterior of a multifamily building.

    Key findings

    • Residential decarbonization projects have the potential to spur job growth, but employers report challenges in finding skilled workers. Without strategies to overcome these challenges, workforce shortages will hinder progress on decarbonization efforts. Common challenges to growing a robust energy retrofit workforce include low awareness of energy efficiency careers, a shortage of training programs that align with market needs, inadequate support for professional development for career advancement or accessing new jobs, and inconsistent contractor licensing requirements.
    • This report recommends several strategies to overcome those challenges, such as conducting outreach to increase workforce program participation from underrepresented populations, creating and implementing standardized curricula, partnering with community-based organizations to provide wraparound services in job training programs, and offering and aligning accessible resources to contractors to help meet licensing requirements.
    • Collaboration between workforce program administrators, community organizations, and employers can lead to an aligned approach to training on market-informed technical skills, soft skills, and wraparound services that may help to improve worker retention and career advancement.
    • Government agencies and trade organizations are helping to standardize training materials. A standardized and industry-informed curriculum enables manufacturers, industry organizations, and training organizations to provide quality training, expand workers’ knowledge, and enhance workers’ skills to perform energy efficiency projects.
    • This report highlights several workforce programs that focus on students, unemployed individuals from communities of color, and workers seeking to upskill and offer them opportunities to acquire new skills, contribute to residential decarbonization projects, and make the workforce more inclusive.
    • Some utilities, manufacturers, lending institutions, and nonprofits are investing in career development activities to motivate and support professionals who are interested in upskilling for energy efficiency jobs or contractors who want to grow their businesses. Support may include flexible training (e.g., in-person or hybrid) or financial aid for contractor businesses to allow for completion of trainings.

    Growing and training a workforce with the skills to perform residential building decarbonization jobs is necessary for improving the energy efficiency and resiliency of homes in the United States. Recent federal and local building decarbonization commitments and actions are increasing the demand for energy auditors, HVAC technicians, heat pump installers, electricians, and constructions workers. Between 2022 and 2023, 74,700 new energy efficiency jobs were added, increasing the total workforce in this sector to 2.3 million.

    However, too few programs help individuals learn about and prepare for these jobs. To respond to this demand and ensure that workforce education and training meet the needs of employers and provide professional development to workers, investments in the energy efficiency workforce development ecosystem are necessary. The ecosystem of interconnected stakeholders—including workforce and education organizations, government agencies, credentialing agencies, policymakers, utilities, lenders, organizations providing wraparound services and soft skills, employers, and the learners—needs to work cohesively to grow a robust workforce that can advance decarbonization efforts. 

    This report summarizes findings from interviews with 35 workforce experts, provides an overview of common workforce challenges, and profiles programs with demonstrated success in expanding the residential workforce. Additionally, it highlights actions that stakeholders in the energy efficiency workforce ecosystem (e.g., government agencies, utilities, training institutions, and community-based organizations) can consider as they prepare and train workers to deliver decarbonization projects that help homes reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. 

    Existing programs demonstrate strategies to grow the workforce

    We found five common challenges that hinder the growth of a residential retrofit workforce. Case studies in the report offer strategies that program administrators can consider when designing and implementing programs to overcome existing challenges. For example, an energy auditor pre-apprenticeship program in West Virginia helps overcome negative perceptions about clean energy jobs by offering trainees hands-on experience and exposure to real-life job scenarios. Table ES1 highlights the workforce challenges and the strategies to address them.

    Table ES1. Commonly discussed challenges and strategies to grow the workforce from program case studies

    Challenges Strategies
    Low awareness and negative perceptions about careers
    • Conduct outreach and provide information about energy efficiency jobs to people who may be interested in new career opportunities, including K–12 and career and technical education students, and both unemployed and employed individuals.
    • Enhance community engagement and connect existing workforce training resources with underrepresented community members to boost workforce diversity.
    • Braid multiple funding sources to broaden outreach to trainees and expand program offerings to support training of underrepresented populations.
    Shortage of programs that integrate technical skills, soft skills training, employer needs, and market demands
    • Collaborate with employers, higher education institutions, and community organizations to integrate training on technical and soft skills and provide support services.
    • Work with employers to develop curriculum and resources based on market needs, recruit participants for trainings, and create career pathways for trainees.
    • Provide career coaching, employment services, and accessible training (e.g., training in multiple languages) for underrepresented populations to help create an inclusive workforce.
    Insufficient skills due to lack of access to standardized technical curricula
    • Make standardized curricula widely available that clearly identify the technical skills that are taught to help workers demonstrate that they have acquired skills that align with their new career goals.
    • Prioritize and widely promote credentials that are stackable and employer recognized, help workers enhance their skills, and enable career advancement.
    • Offer multiple training options, including online, hybrid, and lab and on-the-job hands-on training with flexible timelines for completion to meet trainee schedules.
    Inadequate support for access to new jobs, professional development, and career advancement
    • Partner with community organizations to offer wraparound services and personal case management support to encourage underrepresented populations to participate.
    • Recruit employers in workforce programs committed to hiring training program graduates and offer trainees opportunities to learn from professionals in the field and explore new opportunities and pathways for career growth.
    • Compensate program participants while they undergo training.
    Burdensome contractor licensing requirements and business practices
    • Offer accessible and standardized training to contractors to help them acquire skills that employers are seeking and meet licensing and continuing education requirements.
    • Train contractors on user-friendly tools for designing and implementing technologies.
    • Provide financial support and financing to cover contractors’ upfront costs to incentivize contractors to complete projects.

    Stakeholders need to act now to expand the workforce

    In addition to the existing strategies modeled by workforce programs, we propose immediate actions for utilities, government agencies, training institutions, and others to develop an effective energy efficiency workforce development ecosystem as they design and implement programs to respond to residential sector decarbonization needs. Employers will play an integral role in growing the workforce as they can advise on designing trainings to meet market demands and help establish pathways to jobs for program graduates.  Stakeholders can consider the following to strengthen workforce skills and overcome the five identified challenges:

    • Standardize knowledge and skills across residential decarbonization occupations. Government agencies at the federal or state level, employers, and industry and labor organizations can influence the direction and design of training for jobs needed to decarbonize the residential building sector. For example, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) created training materials for new technologies, such as heat pumps, and has centralized available resources.
    • Increase awareness of different energy efficiency careers for existing and future workers. Government agencies, nonprofits, industry and labor organizations, training institutions, and utilities will need to engage K–12 students and individuals from underrepresented communities to help diversify the workforce, and reach out to incumbent workers to highlight opportunities to acquire new skills and contribute to decarbonization goals.
    • Integrate technical education, soft skills training, and support services in programs. Utilities, nonprofits, and labor and trade organizations that provide workforce training must collaborate with employers and community organizations to offer a balanced approach to technical and soft skills training that reflects the skills needed for the available jobs and serve the prospective employer’s hiring needs. Community organizations can provide supportive services for new entrants to join the industry, earn competitive wages, and advance in their careers.
    • Invest in trainee or employee career development initiatives. Utilities, manufacturers, lending institutions, and nonprofits should support career development activities that help motivate and support professionals to enhance their skills and career. For example, networking opportunities for trainees can help them learn about industry jobs and their responsibilities, access coaching and employment placement services, or explore training that can help advance their careers or update their skills to maintain their existing employment.
    • Address contractor licensing and needs through training and financial resources. Stakeholders, including government agencies, nonprofits, utilities, training institutions, community organizations, manufacturers, and lenders like green banks that finance energy efficiency projects, will need to create resources to prepare contractors and enable them to deliver projects. For example, favorable lending terms to cover the upfront contractor costs can encourage them to accept jobs that accelerate decarbonization efforts or to pursue related training.

     

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