As the country looks to reduce its demand for energy, momentum is growing for existing homes to be retrofitted in order to be more energy efficient and for new home construction to include green components. The demand for green projects are poised to increase as President Obama recently outlined his administration’s proposals for job creation through home weatherization and energy efficiency incentives.

The President recommended that Congress pass HOME STAR, legislation that would offer consumers financial incentives for home weatherization and retrofitting while creating new business opportunities for homebuilders, remodelers and contractors in the expanding green building sector. Simultaneously, the plan would promote energy efficiency solutions, resulting in long-term savings for homeowners.

HOME STAR establishes a $6 billion dollar rebate program to encourage homeowners to make investments in everything from energy efficient appliances to whole-home energy use retrofits. The program would make consumers eligible for direct HOME STAR rebates when purchasing these energy efficient upgrades for their homes.

This is positive news for the industry as the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) estimates that for every $1 billion in new remodeling and home improvement activity, there are 11,000 jobs, $527 million in wages and salaries, and $300 million in business income generated. 

To ensure that workers, from entry level through licensed remodelers and subcontractors, have the weatherization skills needed, the Home Builders Institute (HBI) developed a new 40-hour green training curriculum.  The practical hands-on approach covers a variety of subject areas including fenestrations, caulking, sealing, weather stripping, insulation and more. NAHB and regional Home Builders Associations (HBAs), through partnerships with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship, are ensuring that individuals who complete weatherization courses will be optimally positioned to take advantage of new job and career opportunities.

Individual states are taking steps to create green opportunities as well. Minnesota is taking a leadership role in creating a greener state by implementing Project ReEnergize, a program that distributes homeowner rebates for energy efficient home upgrades.  The program was created and is administered by the Builders Association of Minnesota in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Commerce and has proven popular with contractors and consumers. To date, over 1,000 contractors have taken the necessary training to participate in the program. The average rebate for the homeowner was $1,995, while contractors billed an average of $10,800 per job, as a result of add-on projects requested by the homeowners.

As weatherization practices become integrated into the mainstream, job opportunities for properly trained workers will increase exponentially, resulting in a resurgent residential construction industry and contributing to the improved economic health of the country.

These incentives are an opportunity for the residential construction industry to capitalize on the Obama administration’s emphasis on environmentally sound home building practices and recognize the boon that weatherization funding will create for the residential construction industry’s workforce.