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Green Building to Support Nearly 8 Million New US Jobs

Submitted by: Dan Gerst on Nov 17, 2009 at 3:18 pm Tagged with: green building, LEED Source: USGBC SC Chapter, Upstate Branch

Despite a challenging economic outlook, green building will support 7.9 million U.S. jobs and pump $554 billion into the American economy – including $396 billion in wages – over the next four years (2009-2013), according to a new study from the U.S. Green Building Council and Booz Allen Hamilton. This report was released at the USGBC’s annual Greenbuild Conference & Expo last week in Phoenix, which drew 25,000 attendees.

The economic impact of the total green construction market from 2000 to 2008 contributed $178 billion to US gross domestic product; and generated $123 billion in wages. Green buildings have saved $1.3 billion in energy since 2000 and are forecast to save $6 Billion by 2013. Green building is expected to support over four times more jobs than in the previous five years. The report can be downloaded at www.usgbc.org/greeneconomy.

The US Green Building Council’s 19,000-plus member companies generated $2.6 trillion in annual revenue and employed 14 million people from 29 industries.

The USGBC offers a variety of education. Green building professionals can find education to support various learning needs in a variety of formats, including in-person workshops, on-demand online courses and webinars, study materials and reference guides at www.usgbc.org/education and www.usgbc.org/courses.

The U.S. Green Building Council is committed to a prosperous and sustainable future for our nation through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. The SC Chapter has four branches that meet monthly. To learn more go to www.usgbcsc.org.