Pursues 'Green' Jobs
CUNY Lights Onto Solar Power Group

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

The City University of New York last week joined a group of businesses and other universities to collaborate and contribute research for new solar power initiatives and to increase the number of "green-collar" jobs.

Photo by Claude Grant FROM LABS TO ROOFTOPS: City University of New York officials announced last week that its Professors would take part in an effort to link their solar technology research with businesses that could use it to increase the usage of solar power for buildings' electricity needs. Executive Director Tria Case of CUNY's Center for Sustainable Energy (left) was joined by Vice Chancellor Iris Weinshall (second from left) and Senior Vice Chancellor Frederic Schaffer at a Jan. 3 event announcing the collaboration. 'Now CUNY can work on policies to help New York City to realize its solar potential,' said Ms. Case.

Making Connections

The Solar Energy Consortium (TSEC) was set up last year to connect cutting-edge green technology, developed through research projects at universities, with businesses seeking to develop solar power products to meet the growing demand for alternative energy. The organizers of the consortium are hoping that in addition to giving a boost to the fledgling industry, the effort will increase the number of sustainable jobs.

The Bloomberg administration has opened the door for such efforts, including a commitment to retrofit city buildings with more environmentally-friendly heating, cooling and electrical systems.

"The labs to rooftops concept," said Tria Case, the executive director at CUNY's Center for Sustainable Energy, "means that now CUNY can work on policies to help New York City to realize its solar potential."

The initiative will allow Professors, working on projects ranging from energy storage to how light is affected by the use of various materials, to link with other related research projects at CUNY and other state and private universities to maximize their use potential.

The goal is to help businesses eventually produce the devices and systems that can utilize solar power to reduce the energy drain on the city's electrical grid. For example, a building could generate 20 percent of its electricity needs from rooftop solar technology, decreasing its costs and its greenhouse gas production.

'Direct Link to City'

"By adding CUNY as a TSEC partner," said U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) at a Jan. 3 press conference, "we now have a direct link to New York City as we expand the consortium's reach into a critical market for solar energy products."

The Center for Sustainable Energy will help coordinate the effort for CUNY, which will allow it to link the technology development to its ongoing workforce training projects. It has already been working with the Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning to study the solar potential in the city, connected to Mr. Bloomberg's wide-reaching infrastructure development and greenhouse-reduction effort, known as PlaNYC. "In order to meet the goals and targets of PlaNYC," said Ms. Case, "we have to have a workforce that knows how to install the technology."

The center has been providing solar training installation classes at New York City College of Technology, Bronx Community College and LaGuardia Community College, and officials say that all of them have been filled to capacity. Students have included current city workers, building-trades employees and people looking to enter the workforce.

'Unions Will Be Involved'

Officials expect unions to be directly involved in the process and have been in contact with local officials as the job training has developed. "When it comes to installing solar technology on a government building," said Ms. Case, "the unions will be very much a part of that process. We've been talking with various trades folks about what their interests are, what they need, and how to get involved."

Other CUNY officials noted the link between the consortium and a recent report on higher education urging public-private partnerships. "This historic collaboration among New York's universities exemplifies CUNY's commitment to fulfill the recommendations of the New York State Commission on Higher Education," said Iris Weinshall, CUNY's Vice Chancellor for Facilities, Construction Planning and Design, at the press conference, "to partner among public and independent institutions and stakeholders for the public well-being." Other universities participating in TSEC include Binghamton University, the State University of New York at New Paltz, Cornell University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Clarkson University.