Instructors Dawn Snyder (left) and Greg Weaver (second from right) practice hands-on teaching during a power tools lesson.
Part two of our blog series on Building Green Futures – read part one here.
Building Green Futures is an innovative project from Penn College’s Clean Energy Center to train energy efficiency workers and scale PA’s clean energy workforce. With recruitment, training, and wrap-around services support from CASA, they’re giving eight cohort members two weeks of in-classroom skills education and four weeks of on-the-job training with energy efficiency employers. The goal is not only to produce a new cohort of energy efficiency professionals but to develop a replicable model for training workers across the state. EEA has provided coordination and technical support for the project.
With two weeks of in-classroom training under their belts, cohort members are now out in the field with efficiency employers. We sat down with Dawn Snyder, Building Science Instructional Specialist for the Clean Energy Center and one of the lead instructors for Building Green Futures’ classroom portion, for a look back at her time with the cohort:
Can you describe your role in the Building Green Futures program?
Sure. I was one of the instructors for this cohort. I co-taught with Greg Weaver, who is one of our instructors based in Williamsport. We paired up to split some of the different modules. We also gave the students some guidance overall, in what you’d call customer relations and what would be expected of them at the job site. It’s a little bit of a mentor role.
Great. And can you describe some of the skills that you’ve been teaching the cohort?
The goal was to give them an introductory level, some practical skills that they would actually use out in the field.
There have been a number of certifications. They got a Building Science Principles certification through the Building Performance Institute. So we did the in-class portion of that, and then they took an online test. We also did an eight-hour EPA renovate, repair, and paint training. It’s for teaching them how to work lead-safe, and they now have that certification. Also, they took the OSHA 10 training online and got that certification.
We did an overview of the construction field, along with some of the potential career opportunities that are out there. We also gave them instruction on some home energy retrofits and energy conservation measures, and we also did some communication skills.
A big part of it was construction math and how to operate power tools. We had an immersive module on air sealing where they actually had to cut metal and use caulking. And then for the power tool part, they got to build a box which they were able to then keep and use as a toolbox. So they got something that they could physically take with them, which they really seemed to enjoy.
We tried to make the classroom as much like real-world scenarios as we could. The teaching location had this beautiful wood floor, so I had them practice measuring with their tape measures and put down protective covering. They had to work in teams, and then we also had them clean up at the end just like they would have to do at a job site. There was some good teamwork. They paired up and just figured out what needed to be done.
So that was neat to see. I think that prepared them for what they would run into when they’re out on the job site.

Dawn provides guidance as students work together to practice setting up containment when working with lead paint.
What’s been the most rewarding part of participating in this program?
Seeing the level of excitement and enthusiasm from the participants. One woman, for example, was phenomenal. She commented, “I am enjoying this so much and I am learning so much!” She was just so appreciative. It’s great to help them find a rewarding career and have students send me heartfelt texts.
I just got one this morning from that same student. She sent me a picture of herself in a Tyvek suit by a dense packing machine. Big smile on her face, you know, and I just said, “We’re so proud of you, you’re killing it out there.”
And that for me has been the best part. They send me pictures, keep in touch, and you get to build those relationships. I have been able to see some of them at the actual job site, and they still have that level of enthusiasm. Like what Omar said in his interview, you take that back home. He knows how important this work is.
So that just makes me feel good, that we’re giving them the building blocks to get to that point where they have a rewarding career and they’re doing something meaningful.


Building Green Futures student Maggie sends Dawn pictures of her on-site work installing dense packing installation.
Have you encountered any challenges throughout this experience? Any obstacles?
There will be in any class that you teach. It’s always a juggling act, because most of the time, especially with this type of coursework, you have people with absolutely minimal experience at best. And some of them have some construction background. So you have to pace it so that you don’t lose the ones with a little bit of experience, while you’re trying to bring the ones with no experience up to speed. That’s a challenge with any class, really.
We did have some language barriers. There were a few students from Haiti, and French is their main language. So that was a little bit of a challenge because I can talk really fast, so I had to keep it at a speed where they’d be able to keep up. We had a couple of students who spoke English and French who could help with translation, too
Another thing that we found is most of them were used to the metric system, whereas we use inches. So I spent some extra time in the construction math part to drive that home. I’m sure that was a big adjustment for them. But, you know, we worked through it. We spent some extra time trying to make sure that they got the concept
It was difficult when sometimes someone missed class. And I understand that life happens and that’s fine, but it creates challenges. For example, for the lead class, it’s an EPA requirement that the student gets eight hours of training. There were some students who had to leave, and they weren’t able to get that lead remediation certification.

Do you have any lessons learned for teaching a future cohort of clean energy trainees?
There was one great thing we didn’t really plan; it just sort of evolved when we were talking about weatherization. We had some diagnostic tools like an infrared camera there for them. And they were able to shoot the infrared at the walls and see where there were gaps in the insulation and that type of thing. Once they got that equipment in their hands, that really, really grabbed their interest and helped them to see the difference they can make whenever they’re doing weatherization work in someone’s home.
I think that we could continue with the lab portion of it longer, because the fact that they could build something and take that along with them really seemed to be something that they enjoyed. So I definitely think we should include that in future cohorts, and maybe incorporate a little bit more about setting up job sites and using their construction math skills.
It’s definitely been learn-as-you-go. I would probably try to develop some more hands-on stuff as time permits. We had to make sure they had enough time to do their tests and get their certifications, but there are some adjustments I’d make in some of the timing.
It was a very rewarding class, a very rewarding experience. And, like I said, I love getting these texts from our student, and how much she is enjoying her work experience. And two others are working there with her and she gives me updates on them all the time, which is nice. The relationship-building is just a great experience.
That’s fantastic. Is there anything else that you want to share for the interview?
I just want to thank EEA for your part in all this, making it happen.
And we want to thank Clean Energy Center for all your amazing teaching work!
This project was made possible through a grant from the Met Ed/Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund.