Veterans Green Jobs is offering weatherization services at no cost to qualifying members of the Virginia National Guard (Army and Air branches).

What is an energy audit?
Inspection, measurement, and testing of a built structure to determine what energy-efficient retrofits are practical and cost-effective.

What is a weatherization?
Altering an existing building to reduce heat loss during the winter and minimize heat gain during the summer.

Who will perform the work?
The work will be performed by military veterans under the auspices of Ardently Green (link to http://www.ardentlygreen.com), a Virginia based home performance contractor.  MHEEP will allow the veterans to gain the skills and experience they need to find meaningful work in the emerging weatherization industry.

Why did we choose military families?
With war being fought on two fronts, our military families bear the brunt of the sacrifice. Veterans Green Jobs and the Sierra Club wanted to recognize their dedication by providing them a free service that will leave a little more money in their wallets and make their homes more comfortable and safe.

What is a blower door test-in?
A test to determine the amount and location of air-leaks in a home.

What is thermal imaging with infrared camera?
A device which reveals differences in temperature by forming an image using infrared radiation.

What is a combustion safety (if you have gas or oil heat) and efficiency test-in?
A test to ensure combustion exhaust is properly vented and back drafting does not occur.

What is a gas leakage test?
A test using a combustible gas detector to detect any leaks along any fuel line gas or propance appliances to utility gas meters.

Ambient carbon monoxide test?
All combustion appliance zones are tested using a carbon monoxide tester to ensure safe levels of carbon monoxide.

What is Beacon Home Energy Advisor audit report (or similar)?
The most widely used energy modeling software for residential retrofits, licensed by the EPA.

What is post-weatherization quality check?
A post installation blower door tests and visual inspection by a BPI auditor to ensure all improvements were done completely and effectively.

Denver & Jefferson Counties Weatherization

There are currently no bid opportunities for Denver/Jeffco Weatherization. Please check back later.

San Luis Valley Weatherization

Bid Opportunity Veterans Green Jobs (VGJ) is requesting Proposals for trailers in support of the Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) Weatherization Assistance Program in the San Luis Valley. VGJ desires to contract with one or more vendors to supply these vehicles. At this time we are considering both NEW and USED vehicles. USED vehicles must be in excellent condition. Click to Download – Utility Vehicles Bid Package with SL Valley

Bid OpportunityVeterans Green Jobs (VGJ) is requesting bids for residential insulation services for VGJ’s Weatherization Program for the period of July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010. The range and scope of work will vary; the number of units is unknown, but is anticipated to be fewer than 200. Contractor is to furnish all labor, materials, insurance, and supervision, and building permit if necessary, to perform the required insulation services. Contractor is to warrant all materials and workmanship for one year. Click to Download bid_insltn_contractors 2010-2011

• Please note that Veterans Green Corps programs are seasonal with no guarantee of ongoing employment.

• Post-program opportunities may include hiring on with a Natural Resource Agency or other programs in Veterans Green Jobs. If desired, each Veterans Green Corps participant will receive ongoing support from Veterans Green Jobs for education, career development-placement and social opportunities.

Derrick Charpentier during his time with VGC.

So when he came upon Veterans Green Jobs, he knew he had found his niche.

Working in the Navy as an aviation structural mechanic for a helicopter squadron, Derrick’s nearly five-year military career took him to locations such as the Persian Gulf and South and Central America to support counter-drug and counter-terrorism missions. Leaving the military in 2002, Derrick returned to college for a mechanical engineering degree, then moved to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. His summer job as an underground locator – marking out power and transmission lines for construction companies – was not satisfying.

“I wanted to work with and for the environment. And I wanted to be around people who shared the same sense of commitment to getting the job done. In my experience, that’s been veterans,” says Derrick. He originally had his eye on installing solar panels and wind turbines. But the door that opened was much different.

A quick Internet search on “veteran jobs” and “veteran environmental jobs” led Derrick to Veterans Green Jobs. He soon found himself applying for a variety of training programs and was accepted in a conservation training cohort through Veterans Green Corps – created through a partnership between Veterans Green Jobs and Durango-based Southwest Conservation Corps in 2009. Veterans Green Corps empowers recently returning military veterans, typically aged 20-30 years old, to transition to civilian life. It does so by leveraging vets’ leadership experience in order to meet pressing conservation needs on public lands.

“I was a little taken aback on the first day. The other guys had already been out and working together for more than a month, so they knew exactly what their job was and what they needed to do. One guy showed me the ropes, and brought me into the fold very seamlessly. It was the military experience I was looking for, without the extreme confines and rigid structure of the military,” says Derrick.

For Derrick, the “big selling point” of Veterans Green Corps was the outdoor experience. “It’s nice to get away from email and TV for a few weeks and reconnect with the wilderness and nature. We live in the only world we’ll ever get; I’m more committed now than ever to getting the forest back to its natural pristine condition.”

Derrick first launched into trail operations on the Archuleta Trail in the wilderness of Rio Grande National Forest, followed by a week of chainsaw training at Ice Cave Ridge in San Juan National Forest. He received a number of certifications in just six months, including S-212 Wildland Fire Chain Saw certification through Colorado Firecamp, and the S-130/S-190 wildland fire training required of all firefighters before they can work on the firelines. He was also trained in wilderness first aid and CPR. By his second session, Derrick had been trained as a crew leader.

Derrick with his VGC crew.

Derrick’s experience through Veterans Green Corps has paid off in ways he hadn’t imagined before. He has been hired to join Dinosaur National Park’s Engine Crew for wildland firefighting on a seasonal basis, complementing his winter ski instructor job.

“I’m stoked. My experience with Veterans Green Corps was invaluable. Without that training and experience, there’s no way I would have ever qualified for this job,” Derrick says, citing the requisite experience of being trained in chainsaw cutting in a professional setting.

Aside from giving him the skills he needed to look for a job in the natural resources field, Veterans Green Corps provided a unique bonding opportunity that Derrick feels can’t be easily replicated: In the evenings after a hard day’s work, Derrick and his crewmates shared a community living experience, participating in the cooking and cleaning, then gathering around the camp fire. These were times when the vets shared their life experiences, reflected back on their time in the military, and talked about ways they could better assimilate back into mainstream society.

“But we wanted to do more than just assimilate. We wanted to bring back that warrior spirit we had from the military, and show people that we can all really make a positive difference in this world.”

Veterans Green Corps (VGC) is hiring veterans who are up for a challenge and want to continue serving their country in America’s great outdoors.

VGC conservation work is focused on protecting and preserving our public lands. Done in cooperation with national forests, national parks, the Bureau of Land Management, and state and local government agencies, these projects are an opportunity to take care of our national treasures while working alongside other vets with common goals.

Two VGC crewmembers hard at work.

Veteran crews are trained and hired to work on projects such as trail construction and maintenance, fencing, habitat improvement, hazardous fuels reduction, noxious weed removal, re-vegetation and more. Prior experience doing conservation work is not required!

Projects are described below. Get in touch immediately to apply for this rewarding opportunity – and get geared up for a chance to work with The Corps Network’s Service Project of the Year organization!

Calling All Military Vets
This is tough work!

• Conservation projects are physically demanding and will often require heavy lifting and hiking with equipment and packs.
• Corps members may be required to use various hand tools for project completion.
• Crews may work and camp outside for up to 11 days at a time in frontcountry and/or backcountry locations in all types of weather conditions.
• Crews prepare all their own meals and work together as a group to complete all necessary living chores.
• A typical all-veteran crew consists of 6-8 members, 2 leaders and 1-2 members serving as veteran advocates.
• VGC programs provide all necessary training.
• Living and working in the outdoors offers an incredibly rewarding experience!

Conservation Projects

Great Basin Institute, Nevada Conservation Corps – Las Vegas, Nevada
Throughout the summer and fall seasons, a 6-person veteran crew will complete technical trail building and maintenance on U.S. Forest Service trails in the Spring Mountains. Don’t let the nearby desert landscape fool you! The Spring Mountains are rich in forests, streams and mountain vistas. Work will include constructing trail treads, cutting fallen trees from the trail, building water diversion structures, constructing rock retaining walls and much more. Crew work begins in mid-May and continues into November. Learn more about our partnering corps. (THESE POSITIONS HAVE BEEN FILLED.)

A VGC crew taking a break during a hard days work.

Southwest Conservation Corps – Salida, Colorado
Two summer technical trail crews, and one fall technical trail crew, each with 8 veterans, 2 crew leaders and 6 crew members, will work in the southern Colorado Rockies based out of the Arkansas River headwaters in Salida, Colorado. Trail work will commence in the Rio Grande National Forest with an emphasis on maintenance. Crews will often camp out in the backcountry for days at a time, and the schedule will be nine days on/five days off. Work includes rock removal from trail tread, tree clearing with crosscut saws in wilderness areas, and rehabilitation of water diversion structures. Summer crew members will train May 30, and work will be completed by August 20. Fall crew work will be completed September 6 to October 30 (training starts one week prior for crew leaders). Learn more about our partnering corps.

Southwest Conservation Corps – Durango, Colorado
One summer and one fall saw crew, each with 8 veterans and 2 crew leaders, will conduct fire mitigation and hazardous fuel removal in the southern Colorado Rockies. This work is focused on decreasing the risk associated with wildfires, which pose great threats to intermountain communities throughout the western U.S. Crews will receive chainsaw training to safely reduce wildfire risk by cutting out weak, dead and crowded trees in overgrown forests. The project will begin in August and end in November. Learn more about our partnering corps.

Annie, a saw crew member on the job

Montana Conservation Corps – Medicine Bow – Wyoming and Colorado
Two 8-person saw crews will be formed to remove dead trees that are victims of Mountain Pine Beetle attacks. Over time, dead standing trees present a hazard as they become weak and eventually fall. Crews will be trained on safety and use of chainsaws to eliminate this risk along trail corridors and public use areas. Each crew will have 2 crew leaders and will operate throughout the Routt/Medicine Bow National Forest along the Colorado-Wyoming border. The summer project begins June 14 for crew leaders and June 21 for crew members, and will continue for 12 weeks. Learn more about our partnering corps.

Utah Conservation Corps – Logan, Utah
A 4-person trail crew will be formed to perform conservation work on public lands. Projects will be completed in Providence Canyon in the Cache National Forest May 26 to Aug. 14. Women are strongly encouraged to apply – we need a woman to fill out this crew! Learn more about our partnering corps.

Apply Today
And get ready for the experience of a lifetime.
Contact vgc [at] veteransgreenjobs.org

Who is eligible: All honorably discharged veterans, veterans with a DD 214 or paperwork showing current military status, veterans with all levels of experience.

by Chuck Slothower
Herald Staff Writer

Photo by NICK MANNING/Herald

U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, left, receives a gift from 2-year-old Witson and Louvencia, 1, on Saturday at Udall’s office in Durango. Udall, D-Colo., and U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa, helped Michael Blumhardt, pictured, and his wife, Susan Smith, bring their adopted Haitian children to the U.S. after the earthquake in Haiti.

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It wasn’t long after U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., pulled up in a Chevrolet Tahoe driven by a staffer that a herd of elk traipsed across the ridge above and a red-tailed hawk flew by.

If the visiting senator had hoped for a picturesque setting, his timing couldn’t have been better.

Udall was in Durango on Saturday to tour the Animas-La Plata project, see a federal forest-thinning project and meet with constituents. He also was scheduled to appear at a Democratic Party dinner.

The elk and hawk were on hand while Udall toured a forest-thinning project on East Animas Road (County Road 250). A U.S. Forest Service crew was joined by a group from the Veterans Green Corps to reduce fire danger next to a Forest Service bunkhouse.

“This is the work you would do when you’re trying to protect a home when a fire gets ripping,” said Mark Stiles, San Juan National Forest supervisor.

The Veterans Green Corps is made up of military veterans transitioning back to civilian life. A six-person crew sawed and hacked away at the brush Saturday. Many of the crew members had served in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The Denver-based program is funded in part by federal stimulus funds.

“It allows veterans to work together with veterans,” said Josh Sherrock, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran from St. Louis. “You still have the camaraderie.”

Sherrock said he served in Iraq and Bosnia, and began working for the Greens Corps program last fall. The crew also has worked at Chimney Rock and Saul’s Creek.

“Let me thank you for your service to the country first, and now you’re serving in another way,” Udall told the veterans.

Earlier in the day, Udall toured the Animas-La Plata project. He said he was impressed by efforts to minimize its environmental impact, and he described the reservoir as an example of a long-ago promise that now has been kept.

“We’ve finally made good on the word we made to the Utes about their water needs,” Udall said.

He also met with a Durango couple who wanted to thank him for helping bring their adopted Haitian children into the country.

Michael Blumhardt, a critical-care doctor, and his wife, Susan Smith, an oncologist, were in the process of adopting two Haitian children when a devastating earthquake struck Jan. 12.

Blumhardt flew to Haiti to get the children, while Udall’s staff and that of Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa, worked the phones to ensure their return.

“The congressman and the senator had our backs in a big way,” Blumhardt said.

Udall met the adopted children, Louvencia, 1, and Witson, 2. Blumhardt said both now are healthy. Louvencia battled pneumonia and a life-threatening bacterial infection upon her arrival in the U.S.

“They seem to be doing great,” Blumhardt said.

chuck@durangoherald.com

Fueling Green Jobs Creation and Training for Military Vets

Support Helps Vets Find Meaningful Job Opportunities in the Green Economy

Denver, Colo., April 22, 2010 – The Walmart Foundation has issued a grant of $500,000 to help Veterans Green Jobs, a Colorado nonprofit organization, boost its job creation and training programs in the green jobs field. This is the second year in a row the Walmart Foundation has funded Veterans Green Jobs, with grants totaling $1,249,000 since 2008. As a result of the funding, Veterans Green Jobs has created approximately 120 jobs in the green industry in Colorado so far, and more jobs will be created this year.

Veterans Green Jobs trains and prepares military veterans for jobs in the areas of home energy efficiency, renewable energy, and environmental conservation and restoration. Its programs are specifically geared to help veterans expand their career opportunities and reintegrate into civilian life.

“Powerful, positive change is possible when private corporations and nonprofit organizations come together toward creating a more sustainable future,” said Brett KenCairn, CEO of Veterans Green Jobs. “As individual citizens, we can each do our part to conserve energy and use environmentally friendly products. This power is magnified exponentially when leading businesses and innovative organizations team up to provide the tools and resources people need to take these solutions to a larger scale.”

As Veterans Green Jobs’ founding sponsor, the Walmart Foundation has provided essential funds for training programs and job placement assistance that have put military veterans into meaningful positions in a number of program areas. These include partnerships with conservation corps programs that prepare veterans for work geared to protect and preserve our country’s public lands; projects offering weatherization assistance and energy audits to qualified low-income families in Colorado; and programs to help homeless veterans find meaningful work through urban tree planting initiatives.

“Now more than ever, we are looking for opportunities to support organizations that are creating jobs,” said Margaret McKenna, president of the Walmart Foundation. “By supporting Veterans Green Jobs, we are helping the environment and supporting veterans to return to the workforce.”

Veterans Green Jobs relies on strategic partnerships, such as that with the Walmart Foundation, to help fulfill its mission.

The impacts of this work are felt by families whose homes are being made more energy efficient – and by the veterans who are employed to do the work. Through Veterans Green Jobs’ program, Iraq war veteran Josh Kemp has a job insulating walls and weatherizing doors and windows in Denver and Jefferson County.

“I’m very grateful that I have an income, that I have employment with a good company, and that I work with good people,” said Kemp, who has plans to build a career in the growing energy efficiency field. “It’s hard work, but that’s why I enjoy doing it,” Kemp said.

About Philanthropy at Walmart
Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are proud to support the charitable causes that are important to customers and associates in their own neighborhoods. The Walmart Foundation funds initiatives focused on education, workforce development, economic opportunity, environmental sustainability, and health and wellness. From Feb. 1, 2009 through Jan. 31, 2010, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation gave more than $512 million in cash and in-kind gifts globally, $467 million of which was donated in the U.S. To learn more, visit www.walmartfoundation.org.

About Veterans Green Jobs

Veterans Green Jobs is a national nonprofit organization based in Denver, Colo. that provides green jobs education, transition support, and career and enterprise development opportunities for military veterans, empowering and supporting them to lead America’s transition to energy independence, ecological restoration, community renewal, and economic prosperity.  VGJ was founded in 2008 and operates programs in a variety of green jobs fields including home energy efficiency, renewable energy, land conservation, and urban forestry. For more information, visit www.veteransgreenjobs.org.

Media Contact:

Linda Lidov / (303) 358-6279 / linda@veteransgreenjobs.org

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Veterans Green Jobs is excited to announce our participation in the 2010 Good Jobs Green Jobs conference in Washington DC. Our Director of National Programs will be among the prestigious key note speakers and VGJ will host a workshop to discuss challenges the industry faces based off our experience mobilizing, preparing and placing veterans in green career opportunities.

Join Veterans Green Jobs May 4-6 in Washington, D.C. at the Washington Hilton, in a forum that will tranform ideas into action and building a green economy that creates good jobs, reduces global warming and preserves America’s economic and environmental security.

http://www.greenjobsconference.org/