1Center for American Progress | A Star Turn for Energy Efficiency Jobs
A Star Turn for Energy Efficiency Jobs
Energy Efficiency Must Have a Starring Role in Putting America Back to Work
By Bracken Hendricks and Jorge MadridSeptember 2011
Introduction
Reroting America’s homes and oces or energy eciency mus remain a he opo he naional agenda when Congress reurns o work oday. Congress needs o nd biparisan soluions o jumpsar he economy and creae jobs. Wased energy is an obvious and cosly drag on he produciviy and compeiivenesso he U.S. economy, bu equally imporan amid he curren jobs crisis is his—inves-ing up ron in energy-saving echnology or homes and oces will creae hundreds o housands o jobs, especially in he hard hi consrucion and manuacuring secors o he economy. Te same dollars ha we wase oday on inecien energy use would be beter spen paying he wages o skilled American consrucion workers and purchasingsae-o-he-ar advanced manuacured producs made here in he Unied Saes. When here is subsanial excess capaciy in boh he consrucion workorce and indomesic manuacuring, a program o rero U.S. homes and oces is well argeedo pu American workers back on he job. While housing demand remands depressed,hese cos-eecive invesmens in eciency can creae a new source o demand orskilled workers.Furhermore, building rero invesmens are driven by he privae secor hroughargeed incenives, no governmen programs, drawing privae capial o creae lasing American jobs. Ta’s a smar, biparisan way o ackle he jobs crisis, our dependenceon oreign energy sources, and global warming.In his issue brie we will make he case or residenial and commercial building rero-s, demonsrae ha successul eors in he Recovery and Reinvesmen Ac o 2009and he adminisraion’s Beter Buildings Iniiaive can lay he groundwork or jump-saring a new wave o privae-secor invesmen in his nascen bu criical Americanindusry. We hen deail how we can build upon his oundaion o creae 250,000 new
2Center for American Progress | A Star Turn for Energy Efficiency Jobs
jobs over he nex year. Specically, Congress needs o enac hree programs ha enjoy widespread backing on boh sides o he aisle and deep indusry suppor—Home Sar,Building Sar, and Rural Sar.
Residential and commercial building retrofits
I we reroted jus 40 percen o he naion’s residenial and commercial buildingsock, we would mobilize a massive amoun o domesic labor, over hal a million(625,000) susained ull ime jobs over a decade. Tis would generae as much as $64 billion per year in cos savings or U.S. energy raepayers. Ta’s means $300 o $1,200 insavings or individual amilies.Te residenial secor gives us a perec example o he work ha needs o be done.Homes accoun or 21 percen o he naion’s energy use. Te average American house-hold spends $1,900 per year on energy bills. Tere are approximaely 130 million homesin he Unied Saes, wih roughly hal o hese homes buil beore 1973—long beoremodern residenial building codes and more widely used pracices o insulae againsenergy wase. Modern reroting echniques and echnologies can reduce energy use by up o 40 percen per home.McKinsey and Co. nds ha our naion wases $130 billion annually on energy cossrom inecien buildings and appliances, which could cos eecively be saved usingoday’s exising echnology. Ta’s money ha is lierally ying ou he window or hruhe cracks o leaky buildings. Teir repor “Unlocking Energy Eciency in he U.S.Economy” saes ha a comprehensive eciency sraegy, execued a scale, couldreduce he naion’s nonransporaion end-use energy coss by more han $1.2 rillion by 2020—ar oupacing he iniial invesmen o $520 billion o deploy such a program.Furher, we know ha he work ha needs o be done will be labor-inensive, as every 1 million invesed in energy eciency reros will creae 17.36 jobs according o hePoliical Economy Research Insiue a he Universiy o Massachusets, Amhers.Compare ha o he 6.86 jobs creaed by invesmen in he coal indusry, or he 5.18 jobs i he same money were pu in oil and gas. Congress would do well o noe ha building reros ou-perorm invesmens in new oil and gas exploraion as a orm o job creaion or economic simulus by a acor o 3-o-1. Wha’s more, mos o he producs used in energy eciency reros have over 90percen o he conen made righ here in he USA. Shee meal or ducwork, orexample is over 99 percen domesically sourced, vinyl windows are 98 percen American made, and rigid oam insulaion is over 95 percen made in America. Evenmajor mechanical equipmen like urnaces (94 percen made in he U.S.A.) and aircondiioning and hea pumps (82 percen American made) have a much larger share
3Center for American Progress | A Star Turn for Energy Efficiency Jobs
o U.S. conen han oher producs, wih he domesic share o producion or allproducs in he Unied Saes hovering jus above 76 percen. When you build green, you are ar more likely o be buying American. Ta is very goodnews or he hard hi U.S. manuacuring secor, especially in building and consrucionmaerials, which desperaely need a boos during his down real esae marke.Finally, clean energy jobs are beter or U.S. small businesses. In ac 91 percen o he rmsinvolved in reros are acually small businesses, according o research conduced by heEnergy Fuure Coaliion. Insulaion, or example, is insalled by more han 22,000 rms,85 percen o which employ less han 20 people. Roong insulaion is insalled by nearly 20,000 conracors around he counry, 88 percen o which employ less han 20 people. Windows are manuacured and insalled by more han 130,000 people working or nearly 7,000 rms in he Unied Saes, 82 percen o which employ less han 20 people. Te pro-ducion and insallaion o heaing, venilaion, and air condiioning equipmen employsaround 2 million people in he Unied Saes, and nearly 90 percen o hem work or rmso less han 20 people. While nearly 850,000 people manuacure or insall inerior or exe-rior lighing equipmen in he Unied Saes—nearly 90 percen work or rms o less han20 people. Tis is a big deal or sruggling small and amily businesses in he Unied Saes, who provide he real engine or new hiring in our economy.Te macroeconomic argumens behind his issue are seadas. We have a problem–leaky and inecien buildings ha wase money and energy—and he soluion will beme wih domesic, labor-inensive work ha can be achieved oday a low cos wihexising echnology. Energy eciency is, and will coninue o be, he “low-hanging”rui by which he Unied Saes can save money and creae susained jobs in srugglingindusries crippled by he Grea Recession and coninuing housing crisis. We can dohis while improving and upgrading our inrasrucure and qualiy o lie, wih healhier,more comorable, and more economical buildings. Te real quesion hen is how ounlock hese benes eecively a a momen o economic downurn.
Building on successful Recovery Act investments
Te energy eciency indusry is a a criical poin in is developmen, and real esaeinvesors recognize his emerging marke as a poenial brigh spo in a roubled mar-ke or consrucion jobs. While criics ofen asser ha he American Recovery andReinvesmen Ac o 2009 has no lived up o i’s promise, his assessmen is bohgrossly premaure and conradiced by he acs. In ac, he recen waves o new inves-men in clean energy and building eciency, while slow o ake hold have gained rac-ion and his marke is growing.
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A Star Turn for Energy Efficiency Jobs
Any job creation plan must include a major national program of reconstruction grounded in the clean energy jobs of the future, write Bracken Hendricks and Jorge Madrid.
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