New study predicts big benefits from energy savings
The U.S. Green Building Council has released a study that states with changes to building efficiency, Americans will see an increase in jobs and decrease in greenhouse gasses.
A new study released by research group McKinsey and Co. and sponsored by a variety of public and private organizations such as the U.S. Green Building Council states that changes in building efficiency and other non-transportation initiatives could reduce the America's energy consumption by 23% by 2020. The changes would generate approximately 900,000 jobs, save the U.S. economy $1.2 trillion, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1.1 gigatons/year, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer .
To reach those savings, the country must spend nearly $50 million/year over the next decade to update commercial buildings and homes to reach maximum energy savings. The majority of savings will take place at industrial facilities (40% end-use energy efficiency potential), with residential (35%), and commercial (25%) also taking a huge role.
"Green building can stimulate the economy at a level one and a half times larger than the federal stimulus bill," said Rick Fedrizzi, the president and CEO of the USGBC. "In terms of climate change, a commitment to energy efficiency would be the equivalent to taking the entire U.S. fleet of passenger cars and light trucks-more than 200 million vehicles-off the road."
Annual Salary Survey
After almost a decade of uncertainty, the confidence of plant floor managers is soaring. Even with a number of challenges and while implementing new technologies, there is a renewed sense of optimism among plant managers about their business and their future.
The respondents to the 2014 Plant Engineering Salary Survey come from throughout the U.S. and serve a variety of industries, but they are uniform in their optimism about manufacturing. This year’s survey found 79% consider manufacturing a secure career. That’s up from 75% in 2013 and significantly higher than the 63% figure when Plant Engineering first started asking that question a decade ago.