ECONOMY; ; RETROFIT FOR A GREENER FUTURE.

Byline: STACI MATLOCK

The latest fashionable color in job collars? Green.

New Mexico is joining other states in promoting green jobs as a way to salvage the economy and the planet. Among those potential jobs are solar- and wind-energy system designers and installers, sales people and contractors skilled in retrofitting homes for energy-efficiency.

A recent meeting of the New Mexico Solar Energy Association in Albuquerque was overflowing with people of all ages. The meeting's topic: getting into green jobs. "It was the largest chapter meeting I've seen," said Randy Sadewic of Positive Energy in Santa Fe. "Green jobs are definitely on everyone's mind."

The move to green jobs is already under way.

Some of the state's colleges are offering training and certification programs that already have waiting lists. Companies like solar-cell manufacturer Advent Solar in Albuquerque are operating plants. The city of Santa Fe and Homewise just announced more than a half-million dollars in low-interest loans will be available for energy-efficiency retrofits on homes, which will generate a need for skilled people to do the work. Gov. Bill Richardson formed a Green Cabinet to work on energy conservation and efficiency. The Regional Development Corp. is working with communities to identify renewable-energy projects and create public-private partnerships to build them. And the $819 billion economic stimulus package now before the U.S. Senate contains funding for renewable-energy projects and job training.

Two factors are critical for building a green-jobs economy -- training and money.

Green training

Many green jobs -- like installing and maintaining wind turbines or solar photovoltaic systems -- require specialized training. But the jobs can build on people's existing skills, such as carpentry, electrical work and plumbing.

Other positions may require a single class or a workshop -- such as a class for Realtors and appraisers to learn how to evaluate "green" features in a home. Sales and marketing people need training in the green products they're going to promote.

Renewable-energy projects in the works -- from wind farms to utility-scale solar-energy projects -- also will create job opportunities for skilled construction workers, concrete providers and backhoe operators.

Several of the state's colleges offer a variety of classes related to green technology.

Santa Fe Community College offers both credit and noncredit classes in green building and renewable energy. Certificates are available in solar energy, applied technology and green building. An associate's degree in applied technology also is available.

Interest in the program is "absolutely fabulous," said Lou Schreiber, director of the college's Workforce Development program. When the program started three semesters ago, enrollment was seven or eight students per class. Now the classes are full. "I've had to turn people away and we've extended the class size on some to 26 and 27 students," Schreiber said.

He said one of the best things about the program is that the teachers are all local industry professionals working in the field. The college is planning to build a Sustainable Technologies Center, designed by Lloyd and Associates and expected to open in 2010.

San Juan Community College in Farmington was the first community college in the nation to offer comprehensive solar-energy training programs. Students can enroll in a one-year, photovoltaic-system design and installation program or achieve a two-year Associate of Applied Sciences focusing on electrical systems, fuel cells, wind power and solar thermal energy. The program has a seven-year waiting list, according to manager Tom Munson. Positive Energy's Sadewic went through the program and said it is one of the best in the U.S. It allowed him to pass the certification test by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners the first time.

New Mexico State University founded its renewable-energy research center, the Southwest Technology Development Institute, in 1977 to develop, promote, and commercialize renewable energy technologies.

Joel Olson learned to install solar water-heating systems on the job when he worked with Cedar Mountain Solar. That practical training helped him pass a voluntary national certification test. Training is essential, he said. "It is real easy to do installations wrong. So many people who put them in (in the 1970s and 1980s) put them in wrong, and the systems were not designed properly, so they failed. That gave the whole industry a bad name."

Funding help

One of the keys to green jobs is customers, but many people don't have the money upfront for energy-saving retrofits. Today, the city and Homewise will begin making $550,000 in low-interest, fixed-rate loans available to middle and low-income homeowners to pay for a variety of projects such as insulating roofs and stuccoing walls, purchasing energy-efficient appliances, installing solar water heaters and putting in solar-powered heating systems. City residents who make less than $99,000 can apply for the loans through Homewise on Siler Road.

The loans benefit not only the homeowner, but the construction workers and other skilled specialists hired to do the jobs. Boaz Soifer, owner of Cedar Mountain Solar, said the program will serve as a model for other communities in tying two essentials together -- green jobs and local economies.

The Energy Future Coalition, a national group of builders, contractors and energy advocates joined to ask that $20 billion of the federal economic stimulus package be spent on retrofitting 4 million buildings to cut energy costs. The group proposes to funnel the money through existing state energy programs and have state utility commissions supervise the spending.

Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., a member of the House Committee on Science and Technology, wants renewable energy projects to be among the state's top priorities. "We need to expand and extend tax credits that encourage renewable energy production and stabilize the industry," Lujan said last week. "An aggressive investment in wind, solar and biofuels will create new clean-energy jobs. We need to modernize our energy grid to accommodate clean-energy production, and we need heavy investment in research and development to make renewable energy easier to store and transport."

Promising future

The economy may be on a downhill slide, but it hasn't hurt sales for some local installers of solar-energy systems. Sadewic of Positive Energy said business hasn't slowed. Customers continue to see renewable energy as a good investment.

In addition to designers and installers, Positive Energy recently hired someone with real-estate experience to help market their systems. "So we're taking someone from a market that has declined and will train them to sell solar," Sadewic said.

Gary Anderson is so confident the time is right for marketing solar- and wind-energy systems that he started a Santa Fe company, WindSunNM, in January and is looking for sales people. His company will market solar water systems, photovoltaic and wind-energy systems and solar pool-heating products. Although the pay is strictly commission, Anderson said, within a week he had calls from more than a dozen people from as far away as California and North Dakota.

Solar heating systems are a different matter. Soifer of Cedar Mountain Solar said half his business is new construction, and that has slowed down. But as solar water and heating systems become more modular and easier to install, he believes the retrofit part of his business will boom. He designs the company's systems and just received a grant to market some of his prototypes to mechanical contractors through a spin-off called Solar Logic. Overall, he's optimistic about a greener future. "As the (old) economy collapses, there's the advance of a new economy that we're part of, and that's very exciting," Soifer said. "There's a sense of collaboration in the community and commonality of purpose."

Contact Staci Matlock at 986-3055 or [e-mail].