Clean Energy Center to open Pittsburgh facility in early 2025
Thursday, August 1, 2024
The Clean Energy Center selected Pittsburgh Gateways to co-develop a state-of-the-art workforce training and career exploration center in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Homewood community. Following renovations, the new facility will open in early 2025 and offer hands-on weatherization, building performance and healthy homes workforce training and provide pathways to employment in the broader green building sector.
“We are thrilled to partner with Pittsburgh Gateways to bring this vital clean energy workforce training hub to Pittsburgh,” said Alison A. Diehl, executive director for the Clean Energy Center. “It both supports the development and expansion of Pennsylvania’s clean energy workforce and serves as a vital means of engaging community members in opportunities to improve the health, safety and efficiency of their homes, with a particular focus on disadvantaged communities where energy burden issues are most acute.”
The new training site is supported by the state Department of Community & Economic Development’s Weatherization Assistance Program training/technical assistance funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
With a mutual mission to elevate and expand Pennsylvania’s building performance industry, the Clean Energy Center and Pittsburgh Gateways will co-develop space at 7800 Susquehanna Street, a hub for manufacturing, makers, small businesses, nonprofits and job training. In addition to collaborating on the design, Pittsburgh Gateways will play a key role in providing general site administration, community outreach and recruitment, and local stakeholder engagement for the Pittsburgh training center.
“Addressing energy efficiency in the homes of Pittsburgh aligns well with the mission of Pittsburgh Gateways, and we’re excited to partner with the Clean Energy Center on this new training center,” stated Karen Benner, director of building performance programs for PGC. “In addition to filling a training gap in Pittsburgh’s residential construction industry, we look forward to welcoming students and community members to the center to learn more about energy efficient and healthy homes.”
T.J. Bogdewic, president and CEO of Bridgeway Capital, a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution that developed and operates 7800 Susquehanna Street, added: “We are excited to welcome the Clean Energy Center and Pittsburgh Gateways to 7800 Susquehanna Street. The center directly aligns with our mission and the building’s purpose by providing valuable workforce development training in the underserved neighborhood of Homewood.”
The Clean Energy Center’s Pittsburgh facility will be one of two Penn College satellite weatherization and building performance workforce development centers located in western Pennsylvania; the college’s Latrobe facility opened in 2021. Additional training sites are in Williamsport and Harrisburg.
Shaped by 40 years of experience, the Clean Energy Center at Penn College is recognized as one of the top building science training providers in the country. Its core mission is to provide workforce training, industry certifications and workforce solutions to the green building sector, with a focus on energy-efficient retrofits, building science and building decarbonization. The center specializes in hands-on, competency-based training that teaches the front-line workforce techniques to reduce energy consumption and to improve the comfort and safety of buildings.
Pittsburgh Gateways Corp., a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, is dedicated to economic development in western Pennsylvania. Central to this mission is the goal of combating community deterioration in the City of Pittsburgh, economically underserved areas of Pennsylvania and beyond. Pittsburgh Gateways is the developer, owner and manager of the Energy Innovation Center in the historic Hill District and works at the intersection of energy, workforce development and business incubation.
For more information on Pittsburgh Gateways and its building performance programs, email kbenner@pghgateways.org.
For more about Penn College, a national leader in applied technology education, email the Admissions Office or call toll-free at 800-367-9222.
