Tackling weatherization, hands-on
Old Tech School space offers opportunity for GCC class
By ARN ALBERTINI
TURNERS FALLS — An old storage space is finding a new use at the Franklin County Technical School. It’s now part of the new hands-on classroom for a weatherization class for Greenfield Community College students.
GCC is party to a grant with several other community colleges to develop a curriculum that can be used at colleges across the state to train people to work in the weatherization industry, according to Alexandra Floratos, MassGreen regional training coordinator.
One student, Rachel Lively of Greenfield, said she took the weatherization course to make her old house, which she and her husband bought last year, more energy efficient. “I wanted to have a better idea what I needed to do on our house.”
Another pupil is Dave Frank of Greenfield, a contractor who has been managing several properties in the area for the past 11 years. He said many could benefit from energy-efficiency improvements. “I take care of a lot of older homes,” he said. The course will also give him another set of skills to help market himself as a contractor, Frank said. “I can spot a lot more trouble areas that can be taken care of rather easily.”
GCC didn’t have the space to offer the training and so it went looking and found the Franklin County Technical School, said Superintendent Richard Lane.
The grant paid for equipment, installing that equipment at the old garage at the Tech School and training for instructors, Floratos said.
Now, the garage is outfitted with mock-ups of various types of building siding and shells of walls, roofs and attics.
It’s a place where students learn how to find and fill leaks, how to install insulation, apply weather stripping and all the other skills necessary to make a home as energy efficient as possible.
Students spend part of the training session in a classroom and part in this lab space, Floratos said. The emphasis, she said, is in hands-on training.
She added that weatherization skills are important in an area like Franklin County with a lot of older construction that can benefit from energy improvements.
Among the students in the class is a teacher from the Tech School. The arrangement will some day lead to a weatherization class for Tech School students, said Lane. A senior at the Tech School is also an assistant in the class.
As part of the deal of hosting the class, the Tech School will get one spot in each of the classes.