Retrofitting: The Future of Employment?

World leaders like former President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama are firm believers that retrofitting—the practice of improving existing buildings by implementing energy efficient upgrades—has the power to aid both the environment and the economy by creating long and short-term jobs.

In mid-June, Obama’s Jobs and Competitiveness Council (JCC) presented their much anticipated progress report, which included ways to develop effective and immediate solutions to America’s unemployment crisis. Two out of the council’s five “fast-action” steps would jumpstart retrofitting construction projects and contribute to the creation of one million jobs.

The first step, said the council, is to streamline the permitting process so that retrofitting jobs can get started faster. The second step is to start retrofitting commercial buildings across America so that construction workers can get back to work. Not only will these steps decrease unemployment, the newly renovated and energy-efficient buildings will be better for the environment. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal outlines the plan in more detail.

This summer, Clinton outlined his fourteen point “jobs blueprint” in a Newsweek article, strongly supporting retrofitting as a way to generate jobs. His blueprint included steps like replicating the Empire State Building construction project, which created hundreds of jobs and greatly decreased the structure’s greenhouse gas emissions; painting the millions of tar roofs across the country white, which has been done in NYC and shown to decrease electricity bills by 20 percent on a hot day; and working with utility companies to increase the energy efficiency of residential homes through simple and fast retrofitting improvements.

Obama and Clinton’s vision is clear, but the big questions remain—will these projects become a reality and will their promises of higher employment in America be fulfilled?