Austin has long been known for its green-friendly practices. For this reason, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise to learn that the United States Environmental Protection Agency recently ranked the city in the number 55 position when ranking those metropolitan areas with the most energy efficient buildings. What has been a little surprising to some, however, is the fact that Houston and Dallas both ranked ahead of the eco-friendly city.
In order to determine its rankings, the EPA considered the number of buildings within the metropolitan area to earn the organization’s Energy Star rating by the end of 2009. With 133 star-rated buildings, Houston took the number 6 position. The Dallas/Ft. Worth area, on the other hand, landed the number 8 position with 113 Energy Star buildings. With 55 Energy Star facilities, which cover a total of 8 million square feet, Austin took the number 55 position. With 293 buildings encompassing 76 million square feet of space, Los Angeles, California took the top spot.
According to the EPA, there are nearly 9,000 buildings throughout the United States that had earned the Energy Star rating by the end of 2009. This represents a 40% increase when compared to the number of star-rated buildings from the previous year, despite the fact that the program was established in 1999. The EPA reports that Energy Star rated buildings are more efficient at saving energy and money than those that are not rated. In fact, according to the agency’s estimates, the Energy Star buildings saved nearly 1.6 billion in one year while also reducing enough greenhouse gas emissions to be equal to those that are emitted by over 1 million homes in one year.
For those who are interested in finding an eco-friendly job, whether it is within the construction industry or elsewhere, the Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association has recently gone live with a green jobs board. Although the organization has been around for 25 years, this move represents the first time it has made such a concerted effort toward helping others find eco-friendly employment.
Positions that will be posted on the board include any that are considered to be within a environmentally sustainable field. These include:
· Solar electricity generation
· Solar hot water heating
· Large- and small-scale wind electricity generation
· Biomass electricity generation
· Liquid renewable fuels
· Geothermal electricity generation
· Geothermal heating and cooling
· Sustainable building design and construction
The system already has more than 1,000 jobs posted, so there is no doubt that more Energy Star buildings are on the horizon throughout the state of Texas.