Eco Institution Releases New "Green Consultant" Online Training Course

Enhanced Program Aimed at Fulfilling Mandate for a National Energy-Efficiency
Workforce Cited by a Recent White House Task Force
SAN DIEGO--(Business Wire)--
The Eco Institution, a San Diego-based environmental education and training
firm, today announced the release of a new and enhanced "Green Consultant"
certification and training course. The new online course is intended to make it
easier than ever before for home-service professionals and other interested
individuals to become Certified Green Consultants, and thereafter to deliver
"Green Consulting" services to homeowners, businesses, and organizations in
their neighborhoods and communities.

The new course builds on and replaces the Eco Institution`s initial Eco
Consultant Certification course, which has been offered since early summer. The
new course presents more detailed and advanced training content than was
included in the original course, and focuses exclusively on strategies for
reducing energy use, water use, and utility costs in homes and workplaces. The
release of the enhanced course could not be timed more appropriately, as it
responds directly to a recent call by the White House "Recovery Through
Retrofit" Middle Class Task Force for greatly accelerated training of
environmental professionals. The October 2009 report noted that "there are
currently not enough skilled workers and green entrepreneurs to expand
weatherization and efficiency retrofit programs on a national scale."

"In recent months, our nation`s mission has become clear," Kevin R. Hopkins, the
course`s co-author, declared upon announcing the new training program. "Energy-
and water-conservation efforts will succeed only if they are implemented and
driven at the local level. But to achieve that goal, we literally need an `army
of Green Consultants` to visit the millions of homes and workplaces in America,
and to help their occupants to save energy and water in the most effective and
lasting ways possible.

"As a nation, we certainly have the ideas and initiative that this vital
objective demands," emphasized Mr. Hopkins, a Business Week contributing editor
who also served as an economic, energy, and environmental advisor in the Reagan
White House. "But now we need one thing more: we need the talent. We need people
in every neighborhood and in every community in America who possess the
knowledge and skills to bring this goal about. And that is exactly what the Eco
Institution`s new Certified Green Consultant Course will provide."

Responding to the White House Mandate

The new Certified Green Consultant Course has been designed and written to fully
comply with the training parameters set forth in the White House`s "Recovery
Through Retrofit" overview document. The Presidential report noted that "making
American homes and buildings more energy-efficient presents an unprecedented
opportunity for communities throughout the country… Home retrofits can
potentially help people earn money, as home retrofit workers, while also helping
them save money, by lowering their utility bills. By encouraging nationwide
weatherization of homes, workers of all skill levels will be trained, engaged,
and will participate in ramping up a national home retrofit market."

The report went on to describe in detail the dimensions of the challenge-and the
corresponding opportunity-that is facing the nation. "There are almost 130
million homes in this country," the report observed. "Combined, they generate
more than 20% of our nation's carbon dioxide emissions, making them a
significant contributor to global climate change. Existing techniques and
technologies in energy efficiency retrofitting can reduce home energy use by up
to 40% per home and lower associated greenhouse gas emissions by up to 160
million metric tons annually by the year 2020. Furthermore, home
energy-efficiency retrofits have the potential to reduce home energy bills by
$21 billion annually, paying for themselves over time."

The "Recovery Through Retrofit" initiative, which the White House will make more
specific in coming months, also will include new national energy-efficiency
standards for existing homes along with a program to expand the availability of
so-called "green mortgages." But the training-standards component remains a key
centerpiece. "By implementing Recovery Through Retrofit`s recommendations," the
report concluded, "the Federal Government will lay the groundwork for a
self-sustaining home energy-efficiency retrofit industry. This report provides a
roadmap of how the Federal Government can use existing authorities and funds to
unlock private capital and mobilize our communities."

Saving Green by Living Green

Mr. Hopkins applauded the government`s efforts, noting that it was the key
"missing piece" in the nation`s commitment to environmental protection and wiser
energy use. "Homeowners and businesses in the United States and elsewhere have
long been supportive of environmental initiatives, but have been frustrated by a
lack of both knowledge and opportunities for living and operating in a more
environmentally responsible fashion," he said. "But thanks to the emerging Green
Consultant profession, local residents and business owners can begin to really
make a difference-right in their own neighborhoods and communities."

That difference they can make means more than just doing a "good deed" for the
planet. It also can translate into saving money. Indeed, the Eco Institution
emphasizes that, in the difficult economy that has battered the United States
and others developed countries in recent years, consumers and small businesses
are more interested than ever before in saving money wherever they can-and that
planetary consciousness needs to follow suit.

"It`s easy for someone who is passionate about protecting the environment to say
that cost doesn`t matter," says Mr. Hopkins. "And in the larger sense, maybe it
doesn`t. But environmental protection and planetary preservation depend on
people`s actually taking action. And like it or not, most people today-no matter
how committed to the environment they might be-simply don`t have the thousands
of extra dollars required to purchase a new hybrid car or to line their rooftops
with pricey solar panels."

With that fact in mind, the Eco Institution focuses its training efforts on
helping future Green Consultants to demonstrate to their clients how "living
green" and "saving green" go together. By undertaking simple, relatively
inexpensive steps-from wiser usage of lighting, heating, cooling, and water to
improved insulation and replacement of old appliances-some families can save up
to $2,000 or more each year through the adoption of green-living practices, and
many businesses can save much more. In addition, U.S. Federal tax credits for
energy-efficient structural additions can save taxpayers up to an additional
$1,500 in the coming tax year.

A Powerful New Approach to Energy- and Water-Efficiency

The Eco Institution`s Certified Green Consultant Training Course is aimed at
both existing home-service professionals-ranging from real estate agents and
home inspectors to interior designers, electricians, and plumbers-seeking to add
a new line of business to their current professional practices, as well as other
individuals (including career-changes, underemployed professionals, and local
entrepreneurs) looking to generate extra income and to establish a foothold in a
solid and promising next-generation career.

The Certified Green Consultant Course, which was co-authored by veteran energy
executive Michelle L. Hopkins, is designed to be a no-nonsense "nuts and bolts"
training guide for cost-efficiently saving energy and water at home and work. At
the same time, the course (and the Eco Institution`s approach to "Green
Consulting" in general) goes far beyond the more formulaic "energy audits"
traditionally offered by utility companies and earlier-generation environmental
training programs. "The Eco Institution`s new course will help Certified Green
Consultants to become `trusted counselors` to their residential and commercial
clients, and to help guide them through the maze of technical and legal
complexities that surround the practice of energy-efficiency and retrofitting,"
Ms. Hopkins explained.

Ms. Hopkins previously served for 17 years in various senior executive
capacities with Pacific Enterprises/Southern California Gas Company (now Sempra
Energy), one of the nation`s largest energy utilities. Working closely with the
company`s award-winning energy-auditing program, she witnessed first-hand how
much more effective "trusted energy counselors" were in the field than were the
more traditional checklist-driven energy auditors. "Whenever clients needed help
in dealing with energy-efficiency or retrofitting issues, our people were always
the `first call.` We hope to create the same, powerful dynamic with this new
generation of Eco Institution-trained Green Consultants."

A Rich Course Curriculum

The Eco Institution`s Certified Green Consultant Training Course covers the full
range of topics necessary for future Green Consultants to become locally
recognized experts in residential and commercial energy- and water-efficiency.
Among the topics covered by the 17-unit online course are:

* Green Consulting as a profession
* The residential ecosystem
* Residential heating and cooling systems
* Insulation and thermostats
* Windows and doors
* Household appliances and electronics
* Water use and water heating
* Energy-efficient lighting solutions
* Alternative-energy options, including solar and wind
* Green home design principles
* Energy and water use in the workplace
* Workplace-based recycling practices
* Conducting Green Home and Green Workplace surveys
* Marketing and selling Green Consulting services
* Publishing and promoting Green Consulting services
* Promoting Green Consulting services online

The Eco Institution`s Green Consultant certification process has been designed
for maximum flexibility and adaptability to the needs of individual Green
Consultant trainees. Taking advantage of the latest in web-based training
technologies, the Certified Green Consultant Training Course is available
online, and can be studied at the student`s own pace and on his or her own
schedule. Each of the introductory course`s 17 units includes a detailed,
easy-to-read text-based lesson, and is accompanied by email-based access to a
professional Green Consulting Coach who will guide students through both the
substantive and practical aspects of setting up and building their Green
Consulting practice.

The Certified Green Consultant Training Course also includes a professionally
designed business "Start Up Kit" intended to help Green Consultants to rapidly
build their professional practices. Among the Kit`s more than two dozen
components are a suite of home consulting, workplace consulting, and marketing
and promotion tools that will enable Green Consultants to focus more time on the
vital matters of client service and follow-up and less on the rote mechanics of
running a business. The centerpiece of the Start Up Kit are comprehensive Green
Home Survey and Green Workplace Surveys and Reports, that will enable Green
Consultants to review homes and workplaces and to deliver their findings in a
cost-efficient and consistent manner.

The Eco Institution operates its Green Consultant credentialing program as an
educational and training network and not as a franchise. Specifically, the Eco
Institution sets no fee structures that its trained and certified Green
Consultants are required to charge and makes no guarantees of any specific
income stream (although many Green Consultants and Eco Consultants currently
earn from $100 to $400 per home or business survey, and several hundred dollars
or more from follow-on work with the same client). Additionally, Green
Consultants choose their company`s own name and location, set their own hours,
and determine which specific services they will offer and how much they will
charge. There are also no sales territories or sales quotas. Eco
Institution-trained Green Consultants keep 100% of whatever they earn from
clients, and do not have to pay a "sales commission" or licensing fee to the Eco
Institution for ongoing use of Eco Institution materials.

Signing Up for the Eco Consultant Certification Course

Signing up for the Eco Institution`s Certified Green Consultant Training Course
is a simple and straightforward matter. Interested individuals should visit the
Eco Institution`s Green Consultant web site at www.greenconsultant.com.
Alternatively, students may telephone the Eco Institution directly at (877)
235-3170

For more information regarding this release, please contact Kevin Hopkins at
media@ecoinstitution.com.

Eco Institution
Kevin Hopkins, 877-235-3170
media@ecoinstitution.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009