In reading Rick Fedrizzi of the Huffington Post today, I am reminded once again of how much sustainable building practices fall in line with good old fashioned common sense. In this case for today’s post, good old fashioned economic sense for industries, and for policy makers on all levels of government when looking to provide public support to local and national commerce.
At this point in history, everyone who is in the know, and even most who are not, are worried about the state of the economy. Previously stalwart industries are on shaky ground, and indeed have needed the help of governments just to limp along though the trials of the recession. It is projected that much like 2009, this coming year will not be so much the rebound year as it will be the lead up to the rebound year. But, how do we get there?
In the course of the last year or so, I’ve learned a lot about how green building opens up possibilities for re-training, and for new jobs in retro-fitting and related inspection professions. In towns hit hardest by flagging industries, is this not a huge opportunity not only to put people currently unemployed on different career paths, but also to revitalize communities and set them on long term paths to a sustainable future?
And what about the relatively short term savings on simple technologies that stand for millions of dollars in energy bills every year. Mother Nature Network quotes the Greener buildings website which states:
“In the typical commercial building, lighting costs about $1 per square foot, but with recent advancements in lighting technology, it’s now possible to bring that number down by 50 percent. Not a small savings for any business: A typical 200,000 square foot building may offer $100,000 annual savings through re-lighting.” (read full article)
One-hundred thousand dollars in lighting alone, just by replacing the bulbs! What might a company do with that kind of money? What if that money was invested in new technologies that would save even more?
What would happen if solar energy were used on the building roofs. This technology potentially makes up approximately one-quarter of the capacity needed from traditional lighting and heating systems. Solar energy can save up to 25% in lighting requirements, %50 in heating, and up to 60% in providing hot water. How many millions would be saved as a result, and how many more research, inspection, and manufacturing jobs would be created just by investing in solar energy?
Cities, states, provinces, countries continuing to make tax credits for low-energy usage a permanent incentive, using them to reward developers for retro-fitting and for new residential and commercial building projects are the future. And governments in partnership with utilities companies are another piece to the puzzle, both in the implementation of new technologies to improve insulation to existing buildings (for instance), and in fostering new job sectors in local areas.
Fedrizzi’s numbers as quoted in the Huffington post article are significant:
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.
So green jobs to depressed areas where much of the inspection and retrofitting is most needed seems to be entirely viable. This is not just about the U.S, which is Fedrizzi’s main focus. Investing in trades and the programs to educate new entrants, and looking seriously at the building materials and supply chain technology, with partnerships between governments and with private companies being at the forefront, seem to be pretty clear courses of action on an international scale too.
I believe that capturing the zeitgeist for this new decade will be about recognizing how traditional systems have fallen down, and where the path to addressing economic and environmental crises lies in this new paradigm. The hopeful part is that the solution to a flagging economy and a steadily degrading environment seem to be bound together. Solve one, and the other is also potentially solved as well, or at least points us in a direction that turns the tide in our favor.
Cheers!
Rob.
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