New map reveals job-creating power of green building sector

VANCOUVER, December 3, 2015  — The Pembina Institute’s newest interactive map quantifies the number of jobs in B.C.’s green-building sector and pinpoints where energy-efficient homes and buildings are located in the province.

Released today to coincide with Buildings Day at the United Nations climate-change conference in Paris, the B.C. Green Buildings Map shows that this growing sector already employs tens of thousands of British Columbians. These jobs are found in both our biggest cities and our most remote communities.

The innovative companies in the green-building sector are literally the building blocks of the clean economy in the province, turning the climate challenge into an economic opportunity. B.C.’s government has taken steps to support this sector, but must take further and faster action to meet its greenhouse-gas emissions targets and accelerate the growth of the clean economy.

Homes and buildings use nearly a quarter of the electricity consumed in B.C. They also generate over 10 per cent of our province’s carbon emissions.

“Policies that encourage further uptake of energy-efficient homes and buildings across the province would create the opportunity for the building industry to play a significant role — and provide thousands of jobs — in the transition to a clean economy and a healthy planet.” — Anne McMullin, President and CEO, Urban Development Institute Pacific Region

Last week, over 80 companies, organizations and cities threw their support behind the Call for Action on Energy and Climate in the Building Sector. The joint declaration urges the province to take bold measures to reduce emissions from homes and buildings.

B.C.’s Climate Leadership Team has recommended that the province accelerate improvements in the building code’s energy-efficiency requirements over the next decade, and commit to all new public-sector buildings being super energy-efficient starting in 2016.

The release of the B.C. Green Buildings Map follows the success of Pembina’s B.C. Clean Electricity Job Map. That map highlights the 14,100 jobs created by hydro, biomass, wind and solar-electricity companies in the province.

Green Jobs BC, the North Growth Foundation, and the Pembina Foundation provided funding for this project.

Quick facts

• C.’s green-building sector employs 23,200 people (directly and indirectly).
• 8,900 green homes and 1,105 large green buildings are located in the province.
• 34 manufacturer and suppliers are part of this growing sector.