The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced the green construction sector contributed 2.3 million jobs this year and expects it to create up to 3.3 million by 2018.
The group’s “2015 Green Building Economic Impact Study” says the sector is outpacing overall construction growth in the United States. The green construction industry contributes more than $134.3 billion in labor income to working Americans.
“Green building is playing a massive role in the U.S. construction sector, the clean and efficient energy sector, and the U.S. economy as a whole,” said USGBC’s CEO Rick Fedrizzi. “More than 2.3 million U.S. workers are taking home $134 billion annually in large part because of green building programs like Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Demand for green building will only continue to grow as individuals, businesses, and institutions continue to prioritize sustainable approaches to the design, construction, and operations of our built environment.”
LEED-certified buildings account for roughly 40 percent of green construction’s overall contributions to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is expected to rise to $303.5 billion between 2015 and 2018. Total state earnings related to LEED building projects are estimated to reach $8.4 billion by 2018; Texas alone produces almost 1.3 million jobs.
The study, prepared by consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, states green building will contribute to significant savings across energy, waste management, water, and maintenance costs.
This is a truly embarrassing study with footnotes that are laughable. The fact that Booz Allen did this should be an embarrassment to them as well. The methodology and data inputs are the poster child for garbage in garbage out. Referencing Greg Kats, Charles Lockwood, and believing all the McGraw Hill silly putty data and surveys as well as anything that USGBC provides as data is an affront to any sense of objectivity and scientific value for the work. But of course, the USGBC is almost completely a marketing organization which has never had any regard for science, or economics, or even intelligent policy. We should not be surprised that such a self-serving document should come out of such an organization, but what is puzzling is all the people that accept this proffered pablum as sustenance.