Hawaii Green Building Law

According to the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), some of the benefits of green buildings are improved productivity and satisfaction, enhanced comfort and health and increased quality of life. According to a new study entitled “Impact of Green Building Design and Construction on Worker Safety and Health,” however, improved health and safety may not be flowing to construction workers involved with sustainable buildings.

The study compiled survey responses from seven construction firms which provided data on 86 building projects constructed or in progress
in the period from 2000 to 2006. The study concluded that there appears to be little or no difference between green and nongreen projects in terms of construction worker safety and health. The study further notes:

Because no difference in safety performance is experienced, LEED projects are perhaps sustainable environmentally
but not sustainable in terms of worker safety and health. The writers believe that, similar to end-user safety and health, construction workers safety and health must be considered if a project is to be labeled as sustainable.

Previous posts discussed liability issues surrounding unsafe working conditions and the methods that some sustainable building projects are implementing to improve worker safety and health.

Currently LEED and Green Globes credits are not awarded for the implementation of health and safety programs for construction workers. Nevertheless, safety training is an integral part of developing a skilled green collar workforce and it will be interesting whether green building certification programs begin awarding credits based on increased worker health and safety.

On Monday, Congressman Neil Abercrombie projected that stimulus money and clean energy legislation still pending before Congress would send an estimated $620 million in investment funds for green jobs to Hawaii, and create 7,000 jobs in the islands.

The question that remains unanswered is where will Hawaii find workers that are adequately trained to fill the proposed green jobs. A recent study by the Association of Energy Engineers predicts a serious shortage of green energy skills due to a lack of training and an aging base of energy professionals. According to the study:

• Forty-one percent (41%) of the energy professionals who were surveyed plan to retire in the next ten years.
• Seventy-two percent (72%) of energy professionals indicate a heightened shortage of qualified professionals in the energy efficiency and renewable energy fields in the next five years.
• Seventy percent (70%) of energy professionals indicate a need for national and state training for “Green Jobs” to address job shortages that are impairing growth in green industries, such as energy efficient buildings and construction, renewables, electric power, smart grid, energy efficient vehicles and biofuels development.

So far, Hawaii lawmakers have been unable to enact legislation proposing to appropriate federal stimulus funds to develop a green collar workforce. Meanwhile, there are few programs for students seeking green training. Even where there are programs, students are often lured away to fill green jobs before graduation.

Untrained or inadequately trained workers add to the risks associated with green building. The costs of building green are high. In turn, developers’ expectations as to the end product are large. In addition, results are unpredictable due to the use of new technologies and third-party certification standards such as LEED and Green Globes.

New technologies + high costs + high developer expectations + unpredictable results + untrained workers = a perfect storm that is ripe for litigation. Training skilled workers is necessary before thrusting them into green building projects. All stakeholders should be aware of the risks and liabilities of green development, including the risks associated with employing inadequately trained workers.

In prior posts, we discussed President Obama’s efforts to stimulate the economy by creating “green jobs.”

Although legislation to create a “green-collar” workforce stalled in the Hawaii legislature, the idea has trickled down to the City and County of Honolulu. Resolution 09-57 requests that Mayor Mufi Hannemann apply for Federal Stimulus Package Funds, specifically energy grants, to help retrofit municipal buildings to be more energy efficient. Council Member Donovan Dela Cruz wrote about the introduction of the Resolution yesterday in the Hawaii Reporter.

According to the Resolution “the [city] council believes that investing in renewable energy projects will also help our local economy recover by creating more jobs….”

Several states and municipalities have pushed to apply stimulus funds to create green jobs. For instance, California’s “Green Corps” will place at least 1,000 at-risk youth aged 16-24 into green jobs over the next 20 months.

The pending Resolution does not specify the requirements of the proposed energy retrofits. In order to create long-term growth of a green economy it is essential to fund projects of a large enough scale so that they can create multiple jobs and training opportunities.

The Obama administration announced another push in greening the economy—the creation of “green jobs.”

$4 billion from the economic stimulus plan was slated to renovate public housing. Some of these funds will be spent to create and train workers for “green jobs.” “Green jobs” are loosely defined as jobs to help the environment.

Several states have unveiled legislation seeking the development of green jobs. This year the Hawaii Legislature introduced a bill proposing to appropriate federal stimulus funds to develop a green collar workforce and to implement an Emergency Environmental Workforce Program. The bill was not enacted.

The creation of “green jobs” is a noble plan. As with all aspects of green building, proper planning is necessary, including the training workers in green building practices and technologies.