Overview:

Summary: Installing energy efficient building interventions reduces the urban heat island effect, however, there might not be a skilled workforce available to install and maintain these updates. Governments can create training programs to grow a workforce of operators and maintenance staff that can work on the installation and preventative maintenance of cooling infrastructure.

Implementation: Design and implement training courses focused on appliance efficiency, building envelope improvements, emergency management, and more.

Considerations for Use: Consider partnering with an academic institution and employers.

• Policy Levers: The mechanism municipalities can use to actualize the intervention. These policy levers will likely be used in combination with each other.
  
  
  Workforce Development
• Trigger Points: Opportunities for municipalities to implement risk reduction and preparedness interventions based on the policy lever, building on the United Nations Environment Programme triggers used in the Beating the Heat handbook (2021).
  
  
  City planning processesIncludes city initiatives such as the development of climate action plan, pathway to zero-energy, master plan, transit plan, energy mapping etc.
• Intervention Type:
  Buildings and Built Form
• Sectors:
  Buildings, Public Works

Impact:

• Target Beneficiaries:
  Heat-vulnerable communities, Residents
• Phase of Impact:
  Risk reduction and mitigation
• Metrics:
  Number of workers trained

Case Studies:

• CUNY/NYC Building Operator Trainer

Implementation:

• Intervention Scale:
  City
• Authority and Governance:
  City government, State/provincial government
• Implementation Timeline:
  Medium-term (3-9 Years)
• Implementation Stakeholders:
  City government, Industry, State/provincial government
• Funding Sources:
  Public investment
• Capacity to Act:
  High

Benefits:

• Cost-Benefit:
  Medium
• Public Good:
  High
• GHG Reduction:
  N/A
• Co-benefits (Climate/Environmental):
  N/A
• Co-benefits (Social):
  Creates jobs