The need to stimulate the economy and grow a Green Collar Workforce is undeniable.  In fact, one of the topics discussed in this week's State of Green Business Forum was the current condition of the green job market.  The press has spent many thousands of words writing about the stimulus package up for vote now and the previous administration's bail out package.  What hasn't been detailed is exactly how some of this spending creates actual green jobs.  There are many pieces to this puzzle some of which are a qualified workforce, the opportunity, funding and the technology required to solve these problems.  I'm sure there are many examples that can be detailed in this manner, but I hope this specific case helps the public understand how the money flows from this spending down to our local economy.

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Jerry Yudelson of Tucson-based Green Building Consultant, Yudelson Associates, projects that the green building industry will grow significantly in 2009.  Yudelson has just published his Top Ten List of Green Building Trends for the coming year.  In it, he shows great enthusiasm for the industry despite the macro economic conditions resulting from the credit crisis and other economic malaise.

"What we're seeing is that more people are going green each year, and there is nothing on the horizon that will stop this trend," explains Yudelson. "In putting together my Top Ten trends for 2009, I'm taking advantage of conversations I've had with green building leaders in the U.S., Canada, Europe and the Middle East over the past year."

We're very glad that Jerry agrees that we will see an increase in the greening of existing buildings this year (see #3).  We believe that lighting retrofit projects are one of the easiest to plan, design and complete and they also provide one of the quickest return on investments. Lighting retrofit projects are the "low hanging fruit" of the green building movement for existing buildings.  Jerry's complete top ten list is shown below.

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Effective January 5th, 2009, Idaho Power has improved their Easy Upgrades program by increasing the incentives available to building owners performing energy-efficient lighting retrofits.

Since early 2007, Idaho Power's Easy Upgrades program has helped commercial and industrial property owners improve their existing buildings. Easy Upgrades offers incentives of up to $100,000 for enhancing the efficiency of ighting, cooling systems and other commercial equipment. Since its introduction, over 600 energy-saving projects have been completed and earned incentive payments through the Easy Upgrades program. Those projects are saving more than 30 million kilowatt hours per year, enough energy to power about 2,000 typical homes.

The table below summarizes the incentives available for lighting retrofit projects through Idaho Power's Easy Upgrades program:

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Commissioner Randall Presents $88,000 Incentive Check to Company for Incorporating Energy Efficiency Measures into Facility.

(NEWARK, NJ) – New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) Commissioner Elizabeth Randall today attended a special ceremony in Ramsey to recognize Glatt Air Techniques for its energy savings leadership shown by incorporating energy efficiency measures into its facility.

“I am always proud to be present when a New Jersey company is being honored for energy conservation,” said Commissioner Randall. “It is gratifying to see that more and more ommercial and industrial organizations are opting for efficiency when making their renovation plans.”

During the ceremony, Commissioner Randall presented Darryl Haffner, CPR, Chief Maintenance and Facility Processing Equipment Manager at Glatt Air, with an $88,000 incentive check for incorporating a series of energy efficiency measures in two primary areas: lighting and heat recovery. The technology upgrades are projected to save 294,334 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity annually, along with a total demand reduction of 91.29 kilowatts (kW) and 680 million BTUs of natural gas – which is equivalent to taking approximately 45 passenger vehicles off the road for one year.

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