Elemental LED, A San Francisco Bay Area based LED lighting company, is expanding the REACH (Reduce Energy And Contribute to Humanity) program by partnering with the city of Richmond, CA. Elemental LED developed REACH to help promote energy conservation in the Bay Area community. To kickoff the new partnership, two weeks ago REACH conducted a lighting science and energy conservation workshop for the students of the RichmondBUILD green job-training academy.
Established in April 2007, the RichmondBUILD Pre-Apprenticeship Construction Skills and Green Jobs Training Academy creates employment and career opportunities for Richmond residents and works to reduce violence in the Richmond community. The 14-week intensive program includes training in over 12 skill areas including basic electrical, basic welding, eco literacy and solar panel installation.
RichmondBUILD has received national and international recognition for its success in creating green jobs and putting unemployed California residents back to work. To date the program’s graduates have a 90% placement rate with an average wage of $18.33 and hour. Awards have included the 2007 FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award and the Conservation Champion Award by Senator Barbara Boxer.
On November 29th, REACH co-hosted a lighting science and application workshop with Energy Conservation Options (ECO) a local green contractor at the RichmondBUILD training facility. Fifteen students attended the workshop and learned about energy efficient LED lighting technology, the developmental history of lighting, commonly used types of LED lighting for retrofits, practical knowledge of how to engage customers and tools to land a job with a green contractor.
Elemental LED Lighting Application Specialist Tara Bowerman and REACH Program Director Michael Gutman gave a presentation on the technical terms used for retrofit and new lighting projects. “Terms like Kelvin, CRI, lighting temperature, lumens and foot candles are all very important when trying to decide the right type of lighting for specific applications,” says Gutman.
Dahlia Moodie, President of ECO, began the workshop by presenting on the inefficient lighting technology of the past that is currently being replaced by energy efficient lighting. Moodie also provided the students with valuable information in a one-on-one format about running a contracting business.
REACH donated an LED lighting display to the RichmondBUILD program where students can play with different types of LED lights. The display resides in the RichmondBUILD training facility for the public to utilize.
REACH is collaborating with the City of Richmond on a donation of LED lights to the Richmond Public Library Main Branch, and more workshops with RichmondBUILD are currently underway.
“It was great to collaborate with RichmondBUILD on this workshop and we look forward to more collaborations in the future. We wish all the students great success in moving into the green job force,” added Gutman.
To learn more about REACH, please visit www.elementalled.com/reach.
