The Ohio Green Prison Project (OGPP) is working on a pilot project with the Southeastern Correctional Institution (SCI) in Lancaster, Ohio, to demonstrate that training incarcerated people to retrofit prisons with energy-efficient green technology can make facilities more cost-effective. The project will provide trainees with job skills to prepare them for careers in the burgeoning green economy, making them more likely to succeed when they return to their communities. The lower operating and energy costs are expected to result in savings for SCI and Ohio taxpayers.

Having already taken measures to promote sustainability at the prison, SCI’s leaders and staff are considering efficiency retrofits for the facility and the potential for developing on-site renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. OGPP will collaborate with SCI to evaluate a state-commissioned energy audit of the facility, develop energy-efficiency retrofit goals, and create a green job-training program that incorporates these goals.

OGPP operates with support from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

Why We Need This Project

According to the ODRC, approximately 28,000 individuals are released every year from Ohio’s state prisons. An estimated 36 percent return within three years. By providing inmates with training and hands-on experience, the Ohio Green Prison Project will help them to capitalize on the burgeoning green-energy economy after their release. They will reenter their communities prepared to pursue promising job opportunities and sustainable career paths—an important step toward individual success, lower recidivism rates, and enhanced public safety.

In Ohio and throughout the country, corrections expenditures have become a huge percentage of state budgets. The ODRC reports that its prisons spend $55 million on utilities alone every year. Adopting sustainable technologies will allow the Ohio prison system to conserve valuable resources and achieve significant operational savings, in addition to reducing its environmental impact. With these goals in sight, OGPP will work to provide a sustainable environment and sustainable career paths for incarcerated people, outcomes that can also benefit their families and communities.

For more information, please contact Leah Morgan.