Lesley@Everblue's blog

The Real Estate Division of the Department of Business and Industry recently announced that individuals in the state of Nevada must achieve education and experience requirements prior to performing a home energy audit. The organization clearly lists approved programs, including BPI Certification, RESNET HERS Rater Certification, and Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) Certification.

A new report titled “National Solar Jobs Census 2011: A Review of the Solar Workforce” conducted by the nonprofit trade group, The Solar Foundation, shows massive growth in the solar industry. The study indicates that there are over 100,000 individuals working in the solar industry, and almost half of the 2,100 solar companies surveyed plan to hire more qualified solar professionals in the next 12 months, with a total of 24,000 new solar jobs created.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Some of you may be spending today working, but most of you have probably taken an early vacation and are awaiting the Black Friday rush. With around $10 billion to be spent in one day, Black Friday is a tremendous occasion that will promote sales and help boost our economy. On the other hand, with more than 200 million participants in the unofficial shopping holiday, Black Friday will likely have a negative impact on our environment. But it doesn’t have to be that way! Here are some tips on how you can “go green” on Black Friday.

Everblue is excited to announce that two of our students were winners at the Sustainable South Florida Awards ceremony, which occurred on November 17. To follow-up a related blog post (Greg Hamra: Everblue's Green Visionary), we are also pleased to announce that our very own Greg Hamra, senior LEED instructor, did in fact win the Green Visionary category!

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is holding its annual Greenbuild Convention & Expo in Toronto, Canada this year from October 4-7. This marks the 10th celebration of Greenbuild, as well as the first time that the convention has been held outside the United States.

The USGBC chose to bring the event to Toronto to honor the city’s 300 building projects that are registered for LEED Certification, as well as the 44 green building projects already LEED-certified in the area.

On September 6, 2011, the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) revealed the inaugural class of LEED Fellows. The LEED Fellow distinction is the GBCI’s newest and most prestigious designation, which was developed to honor and recognize distinguished LEED APs who have made a significant contribution to the field of green building and sustainability at a regional, national, or international level. When LEED version 3 was introduced in May 2009, the GBCI had not defined the LEED AP Fellow qualification criteria.

Everblue Training Institute conducted a one-week intensive Green Building Bootcamp at Hofstra University for professionals seeking to learn about the latest in sustainable design and construction building practices.

As many are already aware, this week and next, leaders from around the world converge upon Cancún, Mexico for the COP16 / World Climate Summit.

The Greenbuild International Conference and Expo is the largest green conference in the world, and this year’s event in Chicago proved to be no exception with roughly 30,000 in attendance. Everblue also held a raffle drawing for an AmazonKindle™ electronic book reader, one of the coolest inventions of the 21st century. Michael Hicks with Scott&Goble Architects of Tulsa, OK. was the lucky winner – Congratulations Michael!

With little action at the federal level last week given the Thanksgiving break, we are highlighting positive stories from around the country.

New York On-Bill Financing