Feature image: the LEED Platinum Market One building in Des Moines, Iowa. Image credit: Jared Heidemann.
Released in December 2022, the sixth annual energy efficiency jobs report by E4 the Future and E2 shares that nearly 2.2 million U.S. workers are currently employed in the energy efficiency field. The report is based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and a survey of tens of thousands of businesses.
The report shows that 54% of workers in energy efficiency are employed in the construction field, while 24% are in professional services and 21% are in manufacturing and trade. Among these workers, 8% are veterans, which is higher than the national average of 6%.
Assisting with growth in this are, says the report, the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, says the report, will “bring historic investments in efficiency to all sectors of the U.S. economy.”
Diversity in this sector of the green workforce is still a problem, where the ethnicity of employees is 76% white and 74% male. The report suggests focusing on hiring practices, workforce development funding and location of energy efficiency projects as essential to improving equity, diversity and inclusion in the sector.
https://www.usgbc.org/articles/energy-efficiency-jobs-report-shows-over-2-million-employed-sector
