Jobs and the Evolution of Building

Commercial building design has been undergoing an evolution that is about to take another leap forward.

LEED building standards (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the third party verification certification standard that has been gaining in popularity and acceptance since its inception in 1998. "Going for the Gold" can as easily refer to building standards as Olympic Sports competitions.

"Living Building" design sets the bar even higher. To be certified as a Living Building, a structure is required to be self-sufficient for energy and water for at least 12 continuous months and to meet rigorous standards for green materials and for the quality of its indoor environment.

The new Cascadia Center of Sustainable Design planned for downtown Seattle will get its power from solar panels, use a ground source heat pump for heating and cooling, collect and filter rain water for all its water needs and use a "cap and trade" for energy sharing among tenants as motivation to conserve energy.

A recent King Five video and "Smart Planet" report gives enticing details.

So where do the jobs come from?

According to the Department of Energy Building Energy Data Book, Commercial buildings represent just under one-fifth of U.S. energy consumption, with office space, retail space, and educational facilities representing about half of commercial sector energy consumption.

The top three end uses in the commercial sector are space heating, lighting, and space cooling, which represent close to half of commercial site energy consumption.

For property owners to be competitive in attracting tenants in a renters market an energy retrofit is the safest investment.

According to a report by Johnson Controls it is estimated that 65 percent of the buildings that exist today will still be in use in 2050.

The existing inventory represents a huge opportunity for companies to meet the need for building retrofits.

In a September 10th "Smart Planet" interview David Myers of Johnson Controls was asked how many jobs could be created with retrofitting? How does it compare overall to startups and manufacturing?

Mr Myers answer was encouraging.

"Industry reports identify that for every $1M of incremental market for energy efficiency invested results in approximately 10 jobs are created or preserved. This is for any type of building – private or public.

These jobs range from architects, engineers, electricians and maintenance workers. The market for private sector retrofits is estimated to be $12 billion per year times 10 direct jobs, which equals 120,000 new or preserved jobs per year."

A notable example of the effect of retrofits is what is being done with the Empire State Building. David Myers continues: "When fully completed, the project will save 38 percent of the building's energy and $4.4 million in annual utility bills. In addition, the project overall created more than 250 direct and indirect jobs throughout the construction."

Building owners who are interested in saving money on energy can start by learning how to measure the energy usage of their building. A free Webinar is being hosted by the Environmental Protection Agency and the City of Seattle on Thursday September 22, 2011 from 11 am to 12:30.

When a building owner has data for how much is being spent for heating and cooling systems, lighting, water and other infrastructure then they have a frame of reference for comparing current costs with costs for retrofitting and anticipated savings. 

What about the "Living Building" concept? As innovations are adopted for new construction the market will push for vendors to bring those innovations to existing buildings in ways that make economic sense. A trained workforce will be needed to install and service that technology.

Workforce Training will have to continually update curriculum and those in the building industry will need to take classes to update their skills. That bodes well for blue-collar jobs and trades education.