Green Building to Support Nearly 8 Million Jobs

 

The green building study was released at U.S. Green Building Council annual Greenbuild International Conference and Expo. The industry's gathered representatives from all sectors of the green building movement, including California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. - Courtesy of SWA Group, Sausalito, Calif.

Despite a challenging economic outlook, green building will help support our economy. According to a new study from the U.S. Green Building Council and Booz Allen Hamilton, 7.9 million U.S. jobs will be created, pumping $554 billion into the American economy - including $396 billion in wages - over the next four years (2009-2013).

The study also determined that green construction spending currently supports more than 2 million American jobs and generates more than $100 billion in gross domestic product and wages. The economic impact of the total green construction market from 2000 to 2008, the study found, contributed $178 billion to U.S. gross domestic product; created or saved 2.4 million direct, indirect and induced jobs; and generated $123 billion in wages.

The study also assessed the U.S. Green Building Council's 19,000-plus member organizations and found that they generate $2.6 trillion in annual revenue, employ about 14 million people, come from 29 industry sectors and include 46 Fortune 100 companies.

''Our goal is for the phrase green building to become obsolete, by making all building and retrofits green - and transforming every job in our industry into a green job,'' said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chairman of USGBC. ''This study validates the work that the 25,000 people gathered here at Greenbuild, and every member of our movement, do every day.''

Now is a great time to learn about green building and implement that knowledge as another viable part of your landscape business.

- Courtesy of U.S. Green Building Council.