New jobs, old bricks and the triple bottom line

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It is difficult to discuss the nation’s current economic crisis without the conversation turning to jobs. Unemployment. Jobs creation. Living wages. With over 10 percent unemployment in Oregon, businesses and policy makers continue to explore how to get unemployment under control and the job market back on track. The term “green jobs” frequently surfaces during these discussions. What exactly is a green job? Do these jobs have to be created or, do they already exist and perhaps just need to be rediscovered?

First of all, I would argue that we should be talking about sustainable jobs, not green jobs. A sustainable job is a job that will continue into the infinite future and has little risk of being shipped elsewhere. A sustainable job is made up of two components: (a) it is continually and consistently in demand, and (b) it is local. As we struggle to find the activities that create these kinds of jobs, we fail to recognize a consumer product in our midst that immediately provides communities with sustainable jobs. These products are our existing buildings.

How do the buildings we currently have create sustainable jobs?

Rehabilitation, reuse and maintenance of buildings, whether they are considered historic or not, provides three major opportunities for sustainable jobs. First, good buildings made of durable materials can last literally hundreds of years. But the components of those buildings wear out. Repair and maintenance of those components provides a huge opportunity for employment. Because buildings are located within a given area, they cannot be shipped off elsewhere for their maintenance. Components may be manufactured elsewhere, but the work to replace it remains local. If a community were to commit to rehabilitate even a small percentage of its existing building stock each year, it could offer perpetual employment in the building trades.

Second, rehabilitation, adaptive reuse and maintenance all require a higher labor-to-materials ratio than new construction. In a typical new construction project, materials make up 50 percent of the cost and labor makes up the other 50 percent. In the typical rehab/adaptive reuse project, materials make up only 25 percent – 30 percent of the budget, with the remaining 70 percent – 75 percent spent on labor. While money spent on materials may or may not remain in the local economy, the money spent on labor builds local economies through local spending and taxes.

Third, job satisfaction is key to keeping skilled labor local. Research shows that construction workers get most of their satisfaction from the completion of tasks, a good hard day of productive work, and knowing they were a part of a tangible physical structure. A 2007 job satisfaction/happiness report indicates that while construction workers rate their job satisfaction as good, they rate their general happiness as low. While no data has determined whether there is a difference in job satisfaction between those who work on new construction and those who rehabilitate structures, the argument can be made that the skills required to rehab an existing building, a pre-war structure in particular, focus less on working with building components and more on actual craftsmanship. It is the use of these skills that brings about job satisfaction. Job satisfaction keeps skilled workers in their communities.

Our existing built environment offers us sustainable jobs immediately. These jobs don’t have to be created. They already exist. Business owners, the construction industry and policy makers are beginning to recognize the enormous potential in existing structures.

Yet there is still a long way to go. “Green jobs” are still equated with manufacturing, not maintenance. “Green construction” is still dominated by new buildings rather than building reuse. Economic indicators still focus on new construction and new housing starts, despite the fact that 38 percent of all American construction is either rehabilitation or remodeling.

Rediscovering our buildings provides an immediate solution to job growth in Oregon. Reuse of buildings — one of our most significant manufactured products — directly links to triple-bottom-line sustainability for any business or community. Recognizing the value in what we already have is key to creating a sustainable economic future.

Filmmaker Jane Turville is currently producing “Conserving Our Future: The Role of Historic Preservation in Building a Sustainable Society” in partnership with The Natural Step Network. To learn more, please visit www.conservingourfuture.org.