Energy Resilience Certificate

How Can You Prepare Yourself to be a More Effective Professional in the New Net Zero Economy?

You can earn the prestigious GWU Environmental and Energy Management Institute Energy Resilience Certificate (ERC) or the Advanced Energy Resilience Certificate (AERC). Seven courses comprise the EEMI Energy Resilience program. Each self-paced, noncredit course is 10 to 12 hours of recordings and several webinars with the instructor.

Take the courses as stand-alone classes with a certificate of course completion awarded after passing a course quiz. Take any four courses for the ERC and all seven for the AERC. Register any time and take as long as three months to complete a course.

Hear from the Energy Resilience course instructors in a recent webinar

Designed for All Knowledge Levels

An industry practitioner leads each course with hands-on experience in the topic. The classes help you be better leaders, energy advisors, decision-makers, investors, regulators, and educators. EEMI certificates formally recognize your development and commitment to advancing your energy knowledge and skills. No prerequisites are required for the courses.

Novices: Interested in entering or learning about the energy field will get a sound introduction to each topic
Energy Professionals: Will quickly round out their knowledge of the field.

Students taking the courses will be able to:

Understand the landscape of renewable energy technologies, markets, and applications
Clearly communicate your understanding of the energy topics
Confidently advise decision-makers on energy solutions, energy investments, and energy analysis techniques

Introducing the Courses – Tuition is $550 per course

1. Enterprise Resilience – The principles of resilience and the capacity for systems to survive, adapt, and grow in the face of turbulent change are foundational to understanding energy assurance and security. Students learn how designing for resilience can help enterprises and communities overcome disruptions—whether from human or natural causes—and improve their adaptability to changing conditions. The course draws extensively on case studies of companies that have adopted resilience strategies and have kept their operations and energy systems functioning.

Instructor: Dr. Joseph Fiksel is the author of Resilient by Design, the seminal book on the topic, and co-founder of the Center for Resilience at The Ohio State. The course is open now.

2. Corporate Strategies to Thrive in a Decarbonized World - The realities of climate change are already starting to affect corporate bottom lines, forcing C-Suite executives to seek new ways to mitigate risk in their business operations and supply chains. Moreover, investor, employee, consumer, and community pressure are driving companies to contribute to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in meaningful ways. In this course, you will learn how to use energy consumption and carbon emissions as key performance indicators to reduce the cost of doing business and as a basis to optimize business operations.

Instructor: Jimmy Jia is a Managing Partner of the Jia Group. For over a decade, he has specialized in creating strategies for corporations, governments, and non-profits that advance their mission and vision while reducing their impacts on the planet. The course is open now.

3. How to Design, Finance, and Integrate Renewables in the Power Grid - A key to understanding resilience is to know how the electric grid works and how renewable energy fits into it. This course provides participants with a grounding in the electric power grid and the knowledge needed to oversee, plan, finance, and implement renewable energy projects.

Instructor: Stratos Tavoulareas is an Energy Advisor working globally; until August 2019, he was the Lead for Global Power at the International Finance Corp. Advisory Services, part of the World Bank Group. He has 40 years of experience in the energy sector working in 80 countries on renewable energy and transforming the power sector to accommodate new technologies. The course is open now.

4. On the Road to Mass Market Electric Vehicles - Electric vehicles are leading the way to the electrification of the economy. Students will learn about the types of electric vehicles, the EV market, the factors driving market growth, and barriers to growth, and how the market may overcome them. Key to the modernization of the energy system is the integration of electric vehicles into the grid system.

Instructor: Julian Bentley is the Managing Director and founder of Bentley Energy Consulting, with more than 20 years of experience helping the federal government address energy and environmental challenges. The course is open now.

5. How Electricity Markets Work - In the United States, how electricity is bought and sold varies by region of the country. Municipally owned utilities and customer-owned rural cooperatives support some communities, but investor-owned electric utilities serve most customers, and each is regulated differently. Learn how retail and wholesale electricity prices are set, how power is procured, how the markets are regulated, and implications for the future given the greening and modernization of the electricity sector.

Instructor: Venki Venkateshwara is President, Epoch Energy Advisory Services, and a long-time energy consultant who has worked at the world’s leading management consulting firms, including McKinsey & Company, Charles River Associates, and FTI Consulting. Course opens by April 15, 2022.

6. Energy Resilience, Smart Communities -This course delves into the critical challenges of aging infrastructure in industrialized societies and emphasizes the transformative potential of distributed and smart energy solutions for resilient communities. It examines the vulnerabilities of our infrastructure to modern threats, including climate change, cyber-attacks, and natural disasters, and showcases cutting-edge technological responses. These include advancements in materials science, sensors & controls, AI, and blockchain. Students will explore the role of distributed energy systems and smart communities in mitigating infrastructure weaknesses alongside sustainable financing models and policy frameworks, as well as the implications for societal development and environmental stewardship.

Instructor: Scott Sklar is an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University, where he pioneered the course "Renewable Energy & Critical Infrastructure" and leads sustainable energy initiatives. He also serves as President of The Stella Group, Ltd., a global clean energy firm. Sklar focuses on integrating distributed energy solutions like advanced batteries and photovoltaics for sustainability.

7. Decarbonizing Buildings - To be an effective ambassador for decarbonization, it’s essential to understand the outsized impact of the building sector on global emissions. What metrics really matter for climate change? What do they mean? How can we achieve them in the buildings sector? This concise and rich course gives you a holistic view of why and what needs to be tackled with a vantage view of how the green buildings economy intersects with technology and policy. Dive deeper into how we can decarbonize buildings with some physical fundamentals. Included are frameworks to approach your policy, program, or building project with a systems-level understanding. An overview is available at the 33:40 mark in the webinar video above. Instructor: Smita Chandra Thomas Smita Chandra Thomas is the founder and principal of DC-based consulting practice Energy Shrink, LLC, serves as a senior green building consultant to IFC (World Bank) and is a LEED Accredited Professional (AP) and Certified Passive House Consultant (CPHC). A lifelong learner herself, she has spent her career at the cutting edge of green building technology and demand-side energy management strategy. Course opens by April 15, 2022.

Instructor: Smita Chandra Thomas is the founder and principal of DC-based consulting practice Energy Shrink, LLC, serves as a senior green building consultant to IFC (World Bank) and is a LEED Accredited Professional (AP) and Certified Passive House Consultant (CPHC). Course opens by April15, 2022.

Register

Course Format

Each course consists of 10 to 12 hours of tutorial videos, which you can access on any device and take at any time during the semester. Each class also includes several optional ninety-minute live Q&A webinars with the instructor. These certificate programs are ideal for busy professionals!

More information: Contact [email protected]

What Students Say About the Courses

Who would not like to be more resilient? Take the courses! Nelson Lee, Green Sky Sustainability, President

I am senior systems and electrical engineer with 25+ years of experience in the public, private, and government sectors. This course has provided me with knowledge, resources, and examples which I can use to communicate and emphasize the importance and inherent need for resilience. Stephanie Keller, IEEE, Member

The course gave me better knowledge to perform a technical, business, and policy analysis for Electric Vehicle adoption. Andrew Newens, US Department of Energy

The sound technical knowledge and experience of the lecturer guided me through the components, technology, factors, drivers, and forecasts of the EV market. Sandrine Boukerche, The World Bank

The Enterprise Resilience short course is an excellent introduction to powerful techniques of systems thinking and dynamics that are being used to assist complex businesses and governments to not only anticipate and manage the wide range of threats and circumstances detrimental to their operations but also to maximize their potential for generating desired and positive outcomes. Doug Sharp, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Instructor and Former EPA Emergency Management Official