With the recent push toward more sustainable building practices, new approaches, techniques, philosophies, and materials are being used in what we refer to as green building.
This isn’t an entirely new industry, but rather a traditional industry transforming itself to meet the current needs of sustainability. The most cutting edge portion of the industry can be seen in the wide array of new supplies and materials that are becoming available.
In many cases the roles and functions performed in green building are nearly similar to traditional building. It’s the use of green knowledge, perspective, intent, and materials that make the job green.
Traditional Construction Careers
Designing
Whether designing a new building or a remodeling project, the architect has the opportunity to work with a client to introduce and incorporate a wide variety of sustainable options. It may mean including one green system or it could mean an entire rethinking of how a building functions.
New Construction
Of course the beauty of building a new building is that you can build green from the ground up, integrating in a number of integrated systems that all work together to create a very low greenhouse gas footprint. Whether the focus is residential, commercial, or large scale projects, the opportunity to have an impact is considerable in a new project.
Remodels
Making changes or additions to a home or building provide an opportunity to make greener, more sustainable choices. Throughout the process there are tradeoffs that need to be made in terms of what’s feasible from both a cost and structural point of view. The contractor must often point out the options to the client to work out the final decision.
Energy Efficiency Retrofit
Another way to make a building more sustainable is to retrofit it so that it is more energy efficient – adding more insulation, rethinking the lighting, updating the heating and cooling systems. These changes have a fairly short return on investment because the change themselves can lower energy bills significantly in certain applications.
Deconstruction
An important part of the building cycle is demolishing the original building on the property or the part of the project that’s being remodeled.
Construction waste constitutes about 25%-40% of all landfill waste. For the most part, very little construction waste is actively recycled at the present time.This is a huge opportunity for making a discernable impact in the building industry.
Companies are being started to manually deconstruct buildings, saving the parts that can be reused and recycling the parts that can’t. Reducing waste going to landfill is only one of the benefits. When the reused parts are donated to charitable organizations there are often sizable tax benefits for participating in this process.
Other Career Opportunities within the Building Industry
Building involves much more than constructing the basic structure. Your place within the industry may fall into one of the following areas:
Systems
There are numerous systems that must be integrated into any building. The systems with the most impact on sustainability include water, HVAC, electrical grid, integrating generated power from solar or wind, and automated energy monitoring.
Interior Design
If you make an airtight, energy efficient building, you had better think carefully about your interiors. Sourcing and selecting eco-friendly finishes and furnishings are essential to ensure safe indoor air quality.
Exteriors
Subcontractors are often called upon to do the large-scale exterior projects including siding, roofing, stonework, and windows.
Landscaping
If designed properly, the building’s landscaping can be used to maximize passive solar through summer shade and winter sunlight, minimize water, and save excess water runoff for other uses. Xeriscaping, low water landscaping, capitalizes on native plants that thrive naturally in the location. Sustainable hardscapes can also be used effectively to manage water runoff and minimize water use.
Supplies and Materials
Innovations abound in the form of materials created from reused/recycled materials (example: recycled glass counter tops), mixed functionality (example: roof tiles that double as solar collectors), and high tech materials that are much more efficient (example: high efficiency windows). Within this world there are career opportunities in product/material design, manufacturing, sales, and distribution of the products.
Bottom Line:
If you have a background and experience in the non-green version of any of these fields, you have a leg-up on the competition. Make an effort to learn about the green versions of these fields, through your local community college, union, or online resources, and then apply what you have learned. You may create a new career for yourself and help the environment, too.
© Copyright, 2010, Carol McClelland. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
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Carol McClelland, PhD, is the author of Green Careers For Dummies and the Founder and Executive Director of Green Career Central, a full-service online resource center dedicated to providing career guidance, coaching, and resources to clarify the ever-evolving world of green career possibilities for professionals, students, and career counselors. For more information, visit Green Career Central.
