This post is made possible by energy-efficiency specialists WellHome and their Home Weatherization Giveaway Sweepstakes. Take a quick visual quizof your home’s energy use to see your potential yearly savings. Hurry! For your shot at a grand prize of $2500 in energy efficiency upgrades, enter by March 20!
In August 2010, the Center for American Progress and the Energy Resource Management Corporation released the report Efficiency Works: Creating Good Jobs and New Markets Through Energy Efficiency. They report that due to the mortgage crisis, the construction industry and related jobs were among those hit the hardest. In the first three months of 2010, construction unemployment hovered near 25 percent. Between 2006 and early 2010, residential construction declined by 38 percent which translates into more than one in three construction workers losing their jobs because of the recession.
How can the U.S. leverage these workers’ skills, put them back to work, benefit the economy and help alleviate climate change? Re-purpose their knowledge and experience into refitting residential and commercial buildings to be more energy efficient. The Center for American Progress believes that the U.S. needs a national program for this undertaking, and “it will take public policy leadership to mobilize the private sector investment that is needed to grow this emerging market.”
Fortunately, many states around the country have gotten a head start laying the groundwork for such a movement, implementing state regulations and incentives for energy efficiency to increase the need for industries related to energy efficiency, which, in turn, creates jobs. The report lists the top ten states with leading energy efficiency markets. “The key driver of these markets for efficiency is the presence of policies and market prices that allow businesses to profitably recover the cost of their investments in productive, innovative, and cost-effective energy efficiency measures.” The report also lists the top ten states that deserve special attention for their high-market potential for future energy efficiency development.
Top Ten Leading State Energy Efficient Markets:
1. Connecticut
2. California
3. Maryland
4. Massachusetts
5. Pennsylvania
6. New York
7. Texas
8. North Carolina
9. New Jersey
10. Ohio
Top Ten State with Potential for Future Energy Efficiency:
1. Virginia
2. Hawaii
3. Michigan
4. Maine
5. Nevada
6. Delaware
7. New Mexico
8. Florida
9. Illinois
10. Utah
Although no state has implemented all the identified policies, they have set the stage for rapid growth and development of energy efficiency industries and job creation. The potential for energy efficiency is not limited to a certain region of the countrysince the states are located all over the nation. The Center for American Progress projects that retrofitting just 40 percent of the residential and commercial buildings in the U.S. would:
- Create 625,000 sustained full-time jobs over ten years
- Initiate $500 billion in new investments to upgrade 50 million homes and offices
- Generate up to $64 billion per year in energy cost savings
- Stimulate the economy with an influx of spending by newly employed workers, and a surplus of disposable income for those who saved on energy costs
The report concludes that a national effort toward energy efficiency will create new jobs suited for those displaced workers in the construction and related industries. Green buildings provide many added benefits. “Increasingly efficiency means state-of-the-art buildings, enhanced comfort, better health, and improved economic value. Highly efficient ‘green’ buildings use less energy, attract higher rents, spend less time vacant, and command higher prices at the time of sale. Energy cost savings and well-designed financing structures also reduce net building operating costs permanently.”
Related Articles:
- Take a Hottie to Bed — Stay Warm and Save Energy
- Solar Thermal Water Heating, Israel and the Future
- Winterize Your Windows with Recycled Bubble Wrap
- Insulating Homes in the North vs South
- Is Energy Efficiency Really Good? (A Look at the “Rebound Effect”)
Image Credit: The BASF Company
Solar energy is one of the most accessible renewable technologies for homeowners. Find out how much solar panels cost in the UK and what government grants are available to help with the investment.