2013 Special Recognition Awards

2013 Special Recognition Awards

Roy Swift, Ph.D., American National Standards Institute (ANSI) senior program director of  Personnel Credentialing Accreditation Program, honored for his deep commitment to building a competent workforce.  An internationally acclaimed leader, IREC and the clean energy industries have benefitted from his expertise and success at advancing best credentialing practices. His leadership resulted in the formation of the ANSI-IREC partnership – a joint effort to assess clean energy certificate training programs.

David Clements, International Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI) CEO and executive director, honored for ensuring safety and quality training for inspectors of solar photovoltaic (PV) installations. Under his leadership, IAEI is working with IREC to bring state-of-the-art online training to code officials.

The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, recognizing commissioners Hermina Morita, Lorraine Akiba and Michael Champley, who shepherded a path-breaking plan to enable more rooftop solar systems to connect to the grid, despite skyrocketing penetrations on the islands’ electric grids. The commissioners’ foresight helped put Hawaii on the cutting edge of accommodating high penetrations of solar energy and has offered a model for other utilities across the country to follow.

The County of San Bernardino, California, for reinforcing the need for credentials that demonstrate clean energy training is in alignment with industry-identified skills. This is the first local government Workforce Investment Board (WIB) to add language about IREC accreditation to its website. Voluntary language is a significant step toward educating the training community about the importance of credentialing and the value of raising the bar for quality in workforce training.

Jane Pulaski