Page 9 - Green Builder Magazine March-April 2019 Issue

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Green Building NEWS

The Latest on Sustainability and Renewable Energy
Solar Job Losses and

Gains Vary Widely by State

Although jobs are down nationally, many
areas continue to show strong growth.

FTER SEVEN STRAIGHT YEARS OF JOB GROWTH, the number
of workers in the solar industry dropped by 8,000 in 2018, the
second consecutive year of decline. According to the National
ASolar Jobs Census 2018 report by the Solar Foundation, the
3.2 percent decrease stems from a slowdown in installed solar capacity
and negative policy changes in some states. CREDIT: NAVFAC HAWAII¦FLICKR
But 29 states actually gained jobs during 2018, including many
with emerging solar markets. States with the highest employment
gains include Florida, Illinois, Texas and New York. Other states Where’s the waste? HVAC systems will be a big part of what 16 different
that saw job growth include Ohio, Washington State, Pennsylvania, groups will be studying to improve household energy efficiency.
Minnesota, Virginia and Tennessee. In contrast, many of the
traditional sun power leaders, including California, Arizona and DOE Launches $11.5M
New Mexico, reduced their ranks largely due to unfriendly business
climates, the Foundation notes.
Energy Improvement

Project

Sixteen organizations and colleges will tackle
energy inefficiency in building design.

HE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE)’s Building Technologies Office
COURTESY OF THE SOLAR FOUNDATION T energy performance of building envelopes and heating, ventilation
(BTO) is investing up to $11.5 million in 16 projects to drive
innovation, and early-stage research and development to improve

and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in American homes. In addition,
projects will address key challenges impacting building industry design and

The funds are being allocated to BTO’s 16 “Building America FOA” award
Powering on through. The solar industry overall lost jobs in 2018, construction practices.
but more than half of U.S. states saw photovoltaic employment winners. Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) award funds were
numbers grow, and the trend is expected to reverse in 2019. distributed among three research topic areas, which include baseline in-
“The nationwide jobs decline is certainly disappointing news, and it situ fault analysis in residential HVAC systems, integration of advanced
reflects the importance of sound policies to drive solar energy growth,” residential building envelope and HVAC systems, and gap analysis of building
says Solar Foundation President and Executive Director Andrea Luecke. industry standard practices.
“In the future, our urgent task is to expand solar energy and storage According to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, homes
across America and address the challenge of climate change. This will account for more than 20 percent of total U.S. energy consumption and
take exceptional leadership at the federal, state and local levels.” 37 percent of total U.S. electricity use, with household annual energy bills
Luecke adds that the industry’s long-term trend remains very totaling $240 billion. For the average American household, that amounts
positive. Declining solar energy costs over the past decade have driven to more than $2,000 in energy bills each year. More than 40 percent of this
up industry employment by 159 percent or 150,000 jobs nationwide household energy use goes to heating and cooling homes. While building
since 2010. That number is expected to rise by 7 percent this year to materials and HVAC equipment efficiency have improved over recent
more than 259,000 jobs—up from 242,000 at the end of 2018—as decades, a number of challenges continue to result in significant energy
the industry makes its way through a backlog of utility-scale projects, losses. The 16 project teams selected by BTO will study these challenges,
and new policy incentives take effect in key states. testing and validate emerging energy-efficient technologies and techniques
The National Solar Jobs Census is available at aimed at addressing them.
https://SolarJobsCensus.org. GB A complete list of BTO award winners can be found at https://bit.ly/2TL8krd. GB

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