USGBC Finds Green Building to Support Nearly 8 Million U.S. Jobs Through 2013

The full report can be downloaded at www.usgbc.org/greeneconomy.

-- Interior Design, 11/24/2009 12:00:00 AM

Despite a challenging economic outlook, according to a new study from the U.S. Green Building Council and Booz Allen Hamilton, green building will support 7.9 million U.S. jobs and pump $554 billion into the American economy—including $396 billion in wages—between now and 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 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 approximately 14 million people, come from 29 industry sectors and include 46 Fortune 100 companies.

The study was released earlier this month at the USGBC’s annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, the industry’s largest gathering of representatives from all sectors of the green building movement. It considered the total value of green buildings and the results include workers from the architects who design them to the construction laborers who pour their foundations to the truck drivers who deliver the materials, in recognition of the extensive the impact of green building.

“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.”

The full report can be downloaded at usgbc.org/greeneconomy.