Look into certifications to help get your foot in the door. There are so many different certifications in sustainability. Because of all the options out there, be open to learning something new but also try to pinpoint the path that works best for you. For example, before getting into this field, I didn't realize there was a difference between renewable energy and energy efficiency—and how you go about them both. Do your research and figure out what you specifically want to do in this industry.

I have two different types of days. One day I'll be in the office helping clients go green. I do lease offers, which includes doing a building energy analysis and utilizing my knowledge from the field to help a client save by switching from oil or natural gas to electricity. I also do incentive applications. Other days, I'll go to sites to collect all of the information from a client's existing building—oil tanks, windows, and building materials—in order to make a heat load calculation.

Building Energy Analyst

I'm curious if as a woman in this industry and engineering, if you've faced any challenges in that sense, if you've had any sort of mentors or support that you feel has really helped get you to where you are today in your career. &gt;&gt; I would say it is always something where you're kinda on your toes and always have to advocate for what you believe is correct a lot more just from personal experience. But I will say at BlockPower, my previous manager, he'll always advocate for our team and then my current manager just so happens to be a woman. So it was like BlockPower is definitely a safe space for women in engineering and being able to speak up for yourself is definitely a key thing that you have to have, and being competent in your work. That's most important because people are always gonna give you slack no matter who you are, they're trying to do something in a certain way. So being able to show why your methodology is correct or why you got to what you got in terms of your answers is always something that should definitely have I will say. In terms of outside of BlockPower I'm gonna just say I feel lucky to be able to have more women engineers surround me. 

Experience

My Experience As A Woman In The Engineering Field

My name is Ama Kagun, I work for Block Power as a building energy analyst. So Block Power's mission is, all electric heating and cooling for a healthy, green and comfortable home. Essentially we put in heat pumps to a building to offset their carbon footprint and to give them more control over their heating and cooling systems as well as to give better indoor quality than they currently have. And then definitely making it green so we're electrifying everything instead of using the fossil fields which produces our carbon footprint to the world. &gt;&gt; I would love to hear a little bit about your journey and how your education helped prepare you and lead you to the role you're in currently and spark your interest in the space. &gt;&gt; I am an early bird in this industry as in sixth grade, I learned about reduce, reuse, recycle and I was like, okay, I definitely wanna see the planet one day and then just kept that in the back of my head. And then 10th grade when I decided to like pick a major and I was like let me do architectural engineering because it's a major that combines the design aspect of things and as well as making sure everything's practical with the engineering side of things. So at first, I went to a school and I was like I'm doing civil engineering not totally what I wanna do. And so, I went to North Carolina A&amp;T and did architectural engineering, and we had all these different classes that helped us learn about everything that goes into a building from the design aspect of things, all the way into the construction side of things. Then, I did my masters at New York Tech where I did environmental technology and sustainability as my major. And then I became a clean energy intern and got hired by block power where I work currently and it's been like a really fun ride just being with a company that is so driven and focused on clean energy 

My Career Path

What advice would you share to young people or those looking to pivot their careers into green buildings and building decarbonization and electrification? &gt;&gt; So, I would say that your drive for your passion should lead you into the right direction. But always be willing to learn more because there's so many different certifications out there and if you get certified that helps you get your foot in the door, but one thing I will say though. Because there are so many things out there, you should definitely pinpoint exactly what you want to go into. Cuz to be completely honest with you, before I didn't know like there was a difference between like renewable energy and energy efficiency and how you go about the two different things. So, once you decide, hey, I wanna go into this industry, definitely do your research and figure out what exactly you want to do within the industry. Because it's very broad and you could find a niche for almost everything and once you find that look up different educational programs. Because there are a couple of them out there like the wooden clean energy Academy, which I did, which helped me become a nicer to clean energy intern which helped me get some blog power. So there's definitely a lot of different programs out there. That can give you a lot of information. So, just do your research and you'll find something that fits you. 

Support & Encouragement

Advice For People Entering The Green Building Industry

What keeps you motivated? What keeps you optimistic for the future of our energy systems of green buildings and working in this field? &gt;&gt; Yeah, I definitely say that block power. I definitely see that there's a lot of people that have the same drive and passion as me for sustainability and going green. So, being in this type of environment is very helpful. And then when I just talk to people on a regular basis, I'm finding more and more people are concerned and trying to quote unquote save the planet. So, I definitely know that back when I first started getting to this in sixth grade, maybe not as many people were so for this. But I think with the incentives, definitely. Is helping push people to go forward with this. And more and more schools are implementing sustainability, or energy efficiency, or energy engineering majors within their schools. There's more resources to teach these things and more people are getting into the industry and are able to teach these things as well, so. 

Dedication

Inspiration

Passion

Optimism For The Future Of The Green Energy Industry

I kind of have two different types of days. So one day I will be in the office. And when I'm in the office, I am doing lease offers, which basically means I'm doing a building energy analysis. And then using my knowledge from the field to make a heat load calculation to look at their fields and to see if there's any energy savings that could come from doing this switch to electricity from oil or natural gas. Typically those are the main two things we're looking at. Also, I will do incentive applications where we're trying to get money for our clients to have a cheaper price than doing heat pumps. So essentially BlockPower, we put in heat pumps to a building to offset their carbon footprints and to give them more control over their heating and cooling systems. As well as to give better indoor quality than they currently have, and then definitely making it green. So we are electrifying everything instead of using the fossil fuels which reduces our carbon footprint to the world. And so the other day we'll be going to sites where I collect all the information from their existing buildings, looking at oiler, a type of oil tank, looking at windows, looking at any installation that they might have. And other different building materials that are necessary to make a heat load calculation. 

Day In The Life Of A Building Energy Analyst

If someone wants to come into this industry, you definitely have to be very adaptable because this is a very fast paced industry where things are always changing. Whether it be the building code, that changes every three years, or whether it be getting different certifications, that changes as the time goes on. And when legislation changes, that also affects the incentives money, whoever is in government, their priorities may or may not be aligned with going green for the society. So, you will see incentive money may drop or may increase. So you definitely have to be very adaptable in this day and age if you're trying to go into this field. 

Talent

Adaptability Is Key In The Green Energy Movement

My name is Amma Calhoun, I work for BlocPower as a building energy analyst. So BlocPower's mission is all electric heating and cooling for a healthy, green, and comfortable home. Essentially, we put in heat pumps to a building to offset their carbon footprints and to give them more control over their heating and cooling systems, as well as to give better indoor quality than they currently have. And then definitely making it grain, so we are electrifying everything, instead of using the fossil fuels, which reduces our carbon footprint to the world. &gt;&gt; I would love to hear a little bit about your journey and how your education helped prepare you and lead you to the role you're in currently, and spark your interest in this space. &gt;&gt; I am an early bird in this industry. As in sixth grade, I learned about reduce, reuse, recycle. And I was like, okay, I definitely wanna save the planet one day. And then just kept that in the back of my head. And in tenth grade when I decided to pick a major, and I was like, let me do architectural engineering, because it's a major that combines the design aspect of things and as well as making sure everything's practical with the engineering side of things. So at first, I went to a school and I was like, I'm doing civil engineering, not totally what I wanna do. And so I went to North Carolina A&amp;T and did architectural engineering. And we had all these different classes that helped us learn about everything that goes into a building from the design aspect of things, all the way into the construction side of things. Then I did my masters at New York Tech where I did environmental technology and sustainability as my major. And then I became a NYSERDA clean energy intern, and got hired by BlocPower, where I work currently. And it's been a really fun ride just being with a company that is so driven and focused on clean energy. &gt;&gt; What keeps you motivated? What keeps you optimistic for the future of our energy systems, of green buildings, and working in this field? &gt;&gt; Yeah, I would definitely say being at BlocPower, I definitely see that there's a lot of people that have the same drive and passion as me for sustainability and going green. So being in this type of environment is very helpful. And then when I just talk to people on a regular basis, I'm finding more and more people are concerned and trying to, quote, unquote, save the planet. So I definitely know that back when I first started getting to this in sixth grade, maybe not as many people were so for this. But I think within sciences, definitely is helping push people to go forward with this, and more and more schools are implementing sustainability or energy efficiency or energy engineering majors within their schools. There's more resources to teach these things and more people are getting into the industry and are able to teach these things as well. &gt;&gt; What advice would you share to young people or those looking to pivot their careers into green buildings and building decarbonization and electrification? &gt;&gt; So I would say that your drive for your passion should lead you into the right direction. But always be willing to learn more, because there's so many different certifications out there. And if you get certified, that helps you get your foot in the door. But one thing I will say though, because there are so many things out there, you should definitely pinpoint exactly what you want to go into. Cuz to be completely honest with you, before I didn't know there's a difference between renewable energy and energy efficiency, and how you go about the two different things. So once you decide, hey, I wanna go into this industry, definitely do your research and figure out what exactly you want to do within the industry, because it's very broad and you can find a niche for almost everything. And once you find that, look up different educational programs. Because there are a couple of them out there, like the wooden, clean energy academy, which I did, which helped me become a NYSERDA clean energy intern, which helped me get to BlocPower. So there's definitely a lot of different programs out there that can give you a lot of information. So just do your research and you'll find something that fits you. 

Interview

My name is Alma Khahun. I worked for Block Power as a bidding energy analyst. Essentially we put in heat pumps to a building to offset their carbon footprint. I am early bird in this industry as in sixth grade I learned about reduce, reuse, recycle. And I was like okay I definitely wanna save the planet one day. Once you decide hey I wanna go into this industry definitely do your research and figure out what exactly you want to do within the industry because it's very broad and you could find a niche for almost everything. And once you find that look up different like educational programs because there are a couple of them out there like the Wooden Clean Energy Academy which I did which helped me become a nicer to clean energy intern which helped me get to Block Power. So, there's definitely a lot of different programs out there. Being at Block Power, there's a lot of people that have the same drive and passion as me for sustainability and going green. So, it's been like a really fun ride just being with the company that is so driven and focused on clean energy. 

Amma Calhoun

Building Energy Analyst

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Amma Calhoun

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My work combines:

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Amma Calhoun

Building Energy Analyst

Videos

Amma Calhoun

Milestones

Education

Career

Career Roadmap

My work combines:

My work combines:

Technology

Environment & Nature

Accomplishing Goals

Day to Day

Skills & Qualities Beyond School

Advice for Getting Started

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