Green building is growing according to new research released at a major conference this week which reports that by 2014 nearly half of all design and construction jobs in North America will be in the green sector.

McGraw-Hill is behind the study given its first airing this week at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Toronto.

As things currently stand says the research, 661,000 jobs among architects, engineers and building contractors (AEC) are green. That's 35% of the AEC total and if projections are correct, this share will rise to 45% by 2014.

"Green jobs are already an important part of the construction labour workforce, and signs are that they will become industry standard," said Harvey Bernstein, vice president, Industry Insights and Alliances for McGraw-Hill Construction.

"These numbers reported by the industry match our Dodge green building market sizing; so as green takes over construction activity, so too will green take over the construction workforce." McGraw-Hill has defined 'green job' workers as those who do more than half of their work on green projects or systems.

Among the other results of the survey are: green work is spreading to trades too, with 15% of carpenters, plumbers and the like currently working in green jobs, a figure expected to rise to 25% by 2014.

Those who work in the green job sector like what they do and 42% believe there is more opportunity there with 42% of responders believing their careers will go better in future if they stay green. Green workers need to be trained, with 30% of them saying they have received and will continue to need major training and education input. Employers believe going green is good for their businesses too: 71% of employers said that green certification made their companies more competitive.

The Greenbuild Expo is the world's largest green building conference and this week's event in Toronto is the first time it has travelled outside the United States of America.

McGraw-Hill Construction about is also releasing new research at the expo on the advantages of green office buildings and how to make existing buildings greener.

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