What counts as a “green job”?
Green jobs reduce environmental impact and support cleaner energy, materials, water and air. Typical families of roles include:
Clean Energy & Storage
- Solar installer / PV technician
- Wind turbine service technician
- Battery manufacturing & BMS technicians
- Energy analyst (utility, microgrid, DER)
Efficiency & Built Environment
- HVAC heat-pump tech, building automation
- Home energy auditor & weatherization
- Lighting, controls, commissioning
- LEED/green building coordination
Transportation & Infrastructure
- EV charging deployment & maintenance
- Fleet electrification & telematics
- Transit planning, active mobility
Environment & Climate
- Environmental compliance & permitting
- Air/water quality techs, GIS & field techs
- Recycling, circular economy operations
Pathways into green work
- Certificates (fastest): OSHA-10/30, EPA 608, NABCEP Associate/Installer (solar), NATE (HVAC), EVSE vendor training.
- Associate/Bachelor: Energy systems, environmental science, electrical tech, data analytics for utilities.
- Apprenticeships: IBEW (electrician), carpentry, lineworker, HVAC technician, building ops.
- Project experience: Student clubs, community solar installs, retrofits, hackathons; publish a small portfolio.
Core skills employers love
- Electrical & mechanical basics; multimeter safety; reading one-line diagrams.
- Data & software: Excel/Sheets, Python basics, GIS, dashboards.
- Permitting, codes & standards: NEC, Title 24 (CA), energy code literacy.
- Soft skills: site walks, customer education, concise reporting.