Green construction could add hundreds of billions to the economy

Green construction could add hundreds of billions of dollars to the economy, according to a new report released by the United States Green Building Council.

In the next four years, green building will create 7.9 million jobs and contribute $554 billion to the gross domestic product of the United States, according to the study, which was conducted by Booz Allen Hamilton.

Spending on green construction already supported more than 2.4 million jobs and generated more than $120 billion in wages from 2000 to 2008, according to the report.

Results were released at the council's annual Greenbuild conference this month.

"This study validates the work that the 25,000 people who gathered at Greenbuild and every member of our movement do everyday," said Rick Fedrizzi, the president and founding chairman of the USGBC, in a statement (.pdf). "Our goal is for the phrase ‘green building’ to become obsolete by making all building and retrofits green."

The study also mentioned that the terms "green jobs" and "green collar jobs" are not well defined. For now, the terms are most often limited to wind turbine designers, architects and other white-collar professions.

"Green jobs" should include blue-collar jobs such as construction workers, according to the study.

The study considered direct, indirect and induced effects to determine the estimated impact of green construction on the gross domestic product of the United States, including the contractor who built the building, the companies who provide the supplies to the contractor, and the use of green savings to purchase products and services, respectively.

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com