‘Green collar’ jobs growing in Eagle County

EAGLE COUNTY, Colorado — One moment, Yuri Kostick is planning the large array of solar panels being installed at the Eagle County Airport. The next moment, he’s hunting down environmentally friendly office supplies for the county offices.

He’s the so called “environmental sustainability coordinator” for Eagle County government, one of many new jobs spawned from the nation’s renewed interest in becoming more environmentally conscious and energy efficient.

You could call them “green collar” jobs. These are the technicians installing solar panels on your roof and conducting energy audits on your house. These are environmental consultants and coordinators who are advising companies on how to conduct business in more earth-conscious ways.

They are the architects and engineers drawing the floor plans for your zero-carbonfootprint home made with beetle-killed pine trees. These are the people emptying recycling bins and processing rebates for high-efficiency dishwashers.

They have a variety of educations and backgrounds, and many are learning this new field while on the job. It’s hard to put actual numbers to this growth, but it’s something that can be easily noticed.

How to be a leader

A couple years ago, Megan Gilman began a business called Active Energies, which can perform energy audits on your home or business, design and install a solar power system or provide consulting on how to make your home more efficient.

Since then, the business has taken off, there’s been a surge in demand for renewable energy and consulting, and more businesses are offering those types of services, she said.

“It’s growing so fast, and it’s becoming mainstream,” Gilman said. “It’s fun to be in a profession where there is something new to learn every day, new products, new technologies,”

Gilman has a degree in mechanical engineering — but had to sort of learn herself how to build a business around the concept of sustainability and energy efficiency, which is sort of a new and growing field.

“We’re getting countless e-mails from kids in college, looking for internships,” Gilman said. “They’re wanting experience. It’s a hot, upcoming field to be in.”

Gilman said she’s seen an increase in the number of so called “environmental coordinators” or “sustainability directors” or whatever is you want to call it. These are the people, like Kostick, who consult and guide large organizations on how to be more energy efficient and earth-friendly.

Kostick says he adds that perspective to planning decisions made by the county — how to make buildings more efficient, finding long-lasting cars with good gas mileage, buying office supplies that can be recycled, that sort of thing.

He helps coordinate decisions made by people in the environmental health department, who deal with things like air and water quality (more green collar jobs) and works closely with the ecoBuild program, which regulates the green buildings codes adopted by the county (yet even more green collar jobs).

“My primary role is to ask how can we make Eagle County an environmental leader and find out what do we can do to be as sustainable as possible,” Kostick said.

Based on local demand

Craig Tate, a member service representative for Holy Cross Energy, said he’s seen an increase in the number of technicians who install solar energy systems, along with an increase in energy auditors — people who examine homes and determine exactly how energy efficient they are.

Seems that more and more Realtors and potential home buyers are asking for energy ratings on houses before they make a purchase, he said.

“It’s like it is with cars — you want to know how many miles per gallon you’ll get, and five years ago, when prices were lower, it wasn’t an issue,” Tate said. “Now that energy is getting more expensive, you want to know how much your house will cost to operate.”

Tate himself used to be an home energy auditor. Now, he’s heavily involved in Holy Cross’s rebate program, processing rebates people send in for high-efficiency Energy Star appliances, and is the main point of contact for people installing renewable energy systems.

“Over the past three years, they’ve added my positions for the rebates. We didn’t always have an incentive program, but carbon emissions weren’t as big an issue 10 years ago,” Tate said. “Holy Cross wants to be environmentally sensitive, and that’s what the people are interested in.”

Matthew Charles is a systems designer with Grid Feeders, a local business that designs and installs renewable energy systems like solar and hydroelectric. Charles said the company has expanded quickly over just a year. It started as a one-man job, grew to two, three four then five.

“That was based strictly on the local demand in the renewable energy market,” Charles said.

They have two people installing systems, two people in charge of sales and design, and a technical advisor, who has the engineering expertise. They all have different backgrounds and educations, but for the most part, have learned much of their trade while on the job.

“When we were going through school, there were no course classes in ‘renewable energy,’” Charles said. “We all learned through self education, textbooks and hands on classes with SEI (Solar Energy International).”

Less pollution, less poverty

Will “going green” across the country create jobs and help put a dent in poverty? Visit greenforall.org to learn about how the creation of more so called “green collar jobs” could dramatically boost the workforce and help the environment at the same time.


Staff Writer Matt Terrell can be reached at 970-748-2955 or mterrell@vaildaily.com.