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America’s buildings and infrastructure would become more efficient – reducing greenhouse gas emissions and cutting energy consumption – if a plan outlined by the Associated General Contractors of America is adopted, the organization claims.
The plan outlines measures designed to increase demand for green projects and infrastructure capacity and improve building efficiency and green construction practices.
“Green construction holds the promise of delivering some of the most sweeping environmental improvements our country has ever experienced,” said David D’Hondt, executive vice president of the association’s Washington state chapter, in a news release. “The reality is that you can’t simply wish for a greener future, you have to build it.”
The plan identifies things that public officials, developers and the construction community must do to lessen the impact of construction on the environment. They include: doubling existing energy efficiency tax credits for commercial buildings, passing the Building Star program that invests $6 billion in improving the efficiency of commercial buildings this year, and speeding up reviews and boosting local tax credits for green building projects.
The chapter unveiled the plan during a tour of construction of a green building in Seattle, which will serve as incubator space for startup green construction technology firms.
D’Hondt noted that new city-by-city construction employment figures, released Thursday, show just how much those new opportunities are needed.
Nationwide, 310 metropolitan areas lost construction jobs, including those in the tri-county area.
Between March 2009 and March 2010, Fort Lauderdale lost 8,400 construction jobs, a 21 percent drop. Miami lost 6,000, falling 15 percent to 39,600 from 33,600 jobs.
West Palm Beach fell 21 percent, to 22,900 from 29,100 jobs.
Read more: AGCA: Green building plan would create jobs - South Florida Business Journal:
