By: Jeff Nippes
It has been a rough couple of years for the economy, and the design and construction industry has been hit about as hard as anyone. All you hear about in the news is recession this, great depression that, how long it will take to recover from the real estate bubble bursting, how many jobs the industry has lost etc. etc.
How about some good news for a change? For a good read check out the U.S. Green Building Council’s Green Jobs Study.
It is a fairly large document (52 pages) but if you only the read the executive summary you will probably feel a little better about our industry. The growth in green jobs is staggering.
$396 billion dollars in labor earnings from green construction is forecast from 2009-2013 compared to a very respectable $123 billion in labor earnings from 2000-2008. If you are doing the math that’s triple the labor earnings in a 5 year period compared to a 9 year period. Like I said, staggering. The economic impact directly tied to LEED related construction is equally impressive. Using the same two time periods LEED labor earnings is forecast to go from $703 million to $12.5 billion. This study was released at Green Build ’09 in November of last year so it takes into account the current economic climate.
So as the dog days of summer grind on and it seems the economy and construction industry grind with it, take a peak at the green jobs report for some feel good reading.
Do you think green jobs can help the construction industry recover?
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