As the world is adjusting to shifting climates, the outsourcing of low-skill manufacturing jobs, and a gloomy economic future, the need for Green energy becomes stronger and promising. Over the years, Green construction within nonresidential buildings has grown dramatically where in 2010, “McGraw-Hill estimated the value between $43 billion and $54 billion – the value grew despite the recession of 2007-2009 – in the overall construction market” (Liming, 2011, p. 1). The value of Green construction is estimated to grow between $120 - $145 billion within employment– excluding suppliers of Green building materials and products - increasing to 3.3 million between 2009 and 2013 (Liming, 2011, p. 1). With an expanding sector and increased demand, Green energy provides sustainable economic benefits for investors, employers, and employees, especially for those with employment barriers.
It is important to ask ourselves what “Green collar jobs” are. Green Collar jobs are “manual labor jobs in businesses with products and services that directly improve environmental quality” (Pinderhughes, 2007, p. 3). With a Green construction sector with strong potential growth, Green collar jobs will represent a vital new category of workforce opportunities due to its high quality jobs and low entry sector requirements for individuals with employment barriers. Depending on the type of job (i.e., Project Management, Architecture and Engineering requires a college education), the majority of Green collar jobs do not require extensive training or a college education. One of the great benefits is that many of the Green collar workers will receive formal technical training through on-the-job-training or apprenticeship.
Nonetheless, many Green construction employers would prefer individuals to possess “job ready” attributes. Some of the “job ready” characteristics are a “sense of reasonability, consistently arrive to work on time, a positive attitude towards the work and colleagues, ability to work both independently and as a part of team, basic presentation, listening and communication skills, and a strong work ethic” (Pinderhughes, 2007, p. 24). Furthermore, employers express that employees who possess high school English, basic mathematics, and other career and technical education can help prepare individuals to succeed within the sector (Liming, 2011, p. 9). On the upside, many employers expressed willingness to partner with job training programs, or financially assist employees to continue their education such as completing their GED or take college level courses at their local community college. In doing this, many employees obtain a positive spill-over effect such as obtaining certification that demonstrates competency in a skill, thus providing them with occupational mobility and making them highly sought within their trade. Furthermore, many go on to enhance their education by enrolling into a 4-year institution. As a result, many of the employees who enhance their human capital go on to obtain higher paying jobs with good benefits or start their own business within the sector.
Green construction has a variety of different sectors that can create thousands of jobs with a positive trickledown effect to other sectors (see appendix 1 and 2 to view Green construction sectors and related jobs). The potential consumption from Green collar employment wages and the demand for manufacturing activity will fuel local and national economies. For example, when a wind developer receives a grant,
“The developer will hire turbine installers to work directly on the project. These jobs are what the developer will have noted on the grant application “jobs created”. But this project creates many more jobs than just the installers: truck drivers and train engineers deliver parts, engineers design the facility, and factory workers actually build the turbines. This indirect job creation from clean energy projects is almost always bigger than the direct job creation.” (Caperton and Hersh, 2011, p. 2)
Furthermore, Green collar employees will spend money on material goods which trickles down to unrelated sectors from Green construction. Green collar jobs will allow “workers to purchase automobiles, thus adding to employment in that industry…these induced jobs are not necessarily any more closely related to the clean energy transformation than are other jobs in the economy” (Caperton and Hersh, 2011, p. 39). The President’s Council of Economic Advisers estimate that 6.8 million jobs will be both created and saved by the end of 2012, and 720,000 jobs will be related to clean energy provisions (Caperton and Hersh, 2011, p. 39).
Retrofitting Northern Manhattan
Can a Green initiative focus on retrofitting buildings and neighborhoods succeed in northern Manhattan? Yes and an example is the Pratt Institute’s “Retrofit NYC: Block by Block” initiative that took place at Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. In their 2009-2010 pilot summary report, the design of the program focused in creating a model to increase energy-efficiency by retrofitting the neighborhood and create jobs for local workers within the Green construction sector. The objectives of the “Block by Block” initiative were designed to:
- Make retrofits easy by packaging financial incentives and delivering retrofits to the building owners’ doors.
- Target retrofits geographically to plug into social networks and lower the costs and time needed to do the work.
- Train and employ neighborhood residents in weatherization work.
(Rourk, 2010, p. 3)
Its primary goal was to create a “green block” to “demonstrate and quantify the benefits of energy upgrades and to test methods of marketing, programming, and financing retrofits” (Rourk, 2010, p. 4).
A concern for many home/building owners is the expensive price for retrofitting. Owners were fixated on the $20,000 total to retrofit a building and felt that a 10% subsidize rebate from programs such as Assisted Home Performance or Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) was not enough to take on a serious investment (Rourk, 2010, p. 18). A few owners expressed concern about “investing $28,000 to save $1,700 annually on energy bills with an approximate payback time of 17 years” as irrational (Rourk, 2010, p. 18). Many homeowners fear taking on additional debt since “63 out of 1000 homeowners in Bedford-Stuyvesant faced foreclosure in 2009 – the second highest rate of any community district in the city…Nearly 7 percent of owners are more than one year late in paying property taxes” (Rourk, 2010, p. 12). However, there are existing state incentive programs to help homeowners to finance home retrofits such as the Division of Housing and Community Renewal’s Weatherization Assistance Program, NYSERDA’s Home Performance with ENERGY STAR and Assisted Home Performance with ENERGY STAR programs, utility company incentives, Federal tax credits, and labor and materials from the NYC Justice Corps (Rourk, 2010, p. 4). As of 2010, New York State has been awarded “$40 million in federal energy efficiency block grants to launch property-assessed clean energy (PACE) programs” to assist community-based organizations to ensure property owners are well-positioned and educated to qualify for such funding opportunities (Rourk, 2010, p. 6).
One of great benefits of the “Block by Block” initiative was the jobs provided to individuals with employment barriers. The NYC Justice Corps involved young individuals with criminal histories to be involved in free energy audits, beautification projects, graffiti removal, and improvements to the community garden (Rourk, 2010, p. 4). These projects help these individuals to be engaged in obtaining skills such as job readiness, community-service learning, internships, and job placement. Most importantly, many homeowners expressed satisfaction of the inclusion of these individuals within the projects. They had no problems with Justice Corps members’ personal backgrounds since they felt the program will offer valuable job experience and skills. The homeowners noted the coordinating staff as being “very professional” (Rourk, 2010, p. 13).
Conclusion
Green collar jobs are the stepping stone to help the number of young residents who are unemployed and living in poverty. In a declining economy where many young educated people are competing for scarce jobs, these conditions do not favor the low-income poor who are struggling to survive. Furthermore, not every individual is meant to go to a 4-year academic institution since they do not possess adequate academic foundations. As a result, many go on to take burdensome loans to schools that are not recognized by the majority of employers. A Green energy initiative is the first step for low-skill labors to enhance their skills in a trade that is built for the future.
Green collar jobs will help provide many individuals with better paying jobs within Upper Manhattan that has a median income of $26,819 (New York State Department of Labor, 2011) and a poverty rate of 31% (New York State Comptroller, 2008), which exceeds the citywide rate of 21% (New York State Comptroller, 2008). It is evident from the Berkeley, California and the Bedford-Stuyvesant case studies that such a program is beneficial to individuals with employment barriers. The knowledge and better quality of life they obtain will provide a positive effect within the community in terms of sustainability and economic growth. Furthermore, many who work in the Green collar sector will exemplify a successful model of enhancing their educational attainment while working a challenging, but satisfying Green job. Such an initiative will only be successful if all the community stakeholders work together for a tomorrow fill with prosperity.
Appendix 1
Green Construction and Related Sectors | |
No. | Description |
1. | Bicycle repair and bike delivery services |
2. | Car and truck mechanic jobs, production, and gas-station jobs related to bio-diesel, vegetable oil and other alternative fuels. |
3. | Energy retrofits to increase energy efficiency and conservation |
4. | Food production using organic and/or sustainability grown agricultural products |
5. | Furniture making from environmentally certified and recycled wood |
6. | Green building |
7. | Hauling and reuse of construction and demolition materials and debris (C&D) |
8. | Hazardous materials clean up |
9. | Green (sustainable) landscaping |
10. | Manufacturing jobs related to large scale production of a wide range of appropriate technologies (i.e. solar panels, bike cargo systems, green waste bins, and etc.) |
11. | Materials reuse/producing products made from recycled, non-toxic materials |
12. | Non-toxic household cleaning in residential and commercial buildings |
13. | Parks and open space maintenance and expansion |
14. | Public transit jobs |
15. | Recycling |
16. | Solar installation and maintenance |
17. | Tree cutting and pruning |
18. | Water retrofits to increase water efficiency and conservation |
19. | Whole home performance (i.e., HVAC, attic insulation, weatherization, etc.) |
Source: City of Berkeley Office of Energy and Sustainable Development (Pinderhughes, 2007, p. 3)
Appendix 2
Green Collar Jobs | |||
Green Business Sector | Types of Services Providing Jobs | Types of Entry Level Jobs | Advanced Jobs |
Energy | Energy retrofits, HVAC, solar installation, water conservation, whole home performance | Customer service, evaluation, installation, construction, maintenance, repair | Energy partner, journeyman, solar electrician, service technician, project manager |
Water | Water conservation, adaptive grey water reuse | Installation, construction, maintenance, repair | Journeyman, project manager |
Green Building | Construction demolition & removal | Construction, carpentry, demolition, hauling, driving | General contractor, project manager |
Woodworking | Custom architecture, cabinetry, furniture, repairs | Assembly, sanding, finishing, carpentry, installation | Journeyman, head carpenter |
Green Space | Parks & open space, landscaping | Planting, maintenance, tree cutting / pruning | Project manager, head gardener |
Food | Urban agriculture, farmers’ markets, specialty foods production, baking | Growing, packaging, delivery, set-up/tear-down, selling, brewing, roasting, packaging, baking, mixing, cleaning | Production manager, market manager, floor manager, head baker |
Transportation | Bicycle delivery, bicycle repair, bio-diesel/veggie fuels, public transportation | Dispatch and delivery, assembly and repair, fuel production, distribution, driving, maintenance, repair | Messenger/ owner, shop manager, production manager, head mechanic |
Non-Toxic Printing | Commercial printing services | Binding, post-press, delivery | Press Op, pre-press |
Non-Toxic Cleaning | Residential & Commercial Cleaning | Cleaning, customer service | Team leader |
Waste Stream Diversion | Materials recycling, materials re-use | Collection, sorting, driving, loading, salvaging, warehouse, packaging and composting | Warehouse manager, floor/department manager |
Source: City of Berkeley Office of Energy and Sustainable Development (Pinderhughes, 2007, p.22)
References
Caperton, R. W., & Hersh, A. Center for American Progress, (2011). Putting america back to work with clean energy: Productivty, economic efficiency, and the promise of green jobs
Liming, L. (2011). Careers in Green Construction. Washington, DC: US Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
snapshot of Washington Heights and Inwood. New York, NY.
New York State Department of Labor, Department of Labor. (2011). Labor standards.
Retrieved from http://www.labor.ny.gov/workerprotection/laborstandards/faq.shtm
Pinderhughes, R. (2007). Green collar jobs: An analysis of the capacity of green businesses to provide high quality jobs for men and women with barriers to employment. City of Berkeley Office of Energy and Sustainable Development.
Rourk, A. Pratt Center for Community Development. (2010). Retrofit bedford-stuyvesant, block by block: 2009-2010 pilot summary report. New York City: Pratt Institute.
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