Renewable Energy Technician

This professional technical program is offered as a second year option within the Energy Management Program. The coursework prepares students for employment designing and installing solar electric and domestic hot water systems. An advisory committee made up of renewable energy practitioners guides program development.

Renewable students, along with Energy Management students, take a first-year curriculum in commercial energy efficiency giving them a solid background that includes residential energy efficiency, HVAC systems, lighting, and the usual requirement of physics and math.

In the second year, renewable students diverge from the Energy Management curriculum and take coursework that starts with two courses in electricity fundamentals and one course in energy economics. In the following terms students learn to design, install, and develop a thorough understanding of photovoltaics (PV) and domestic hot water (DHW) systems.

Water Conservation Technician

Globally, water issues are at crisis levels. Nationally, water providers are scrambling to replace aging infrastructure, retiring employees and maintain quality and ecologic integrity. Water stressors like climate change, population growth and increasing pollution are compounded by lack of awareness.

Educational opportunities that provide technicians with the skills and knowledge needed to design, implement and evaluate water conservation programs are uncommon in higher education. Agencies have relied on job training until now!

The Water Conservation Technician program is a career-technical curriculum offered as a two-year Associate of Applied Science degree. It trains individuals to evaluate water use patterns; develop, implement, maintain and market conservation programs; perform public outreach; recommend water efficiency techniques; and perform systems analysis to solve problems.