How Does Energy Efficiency Create Jobs?

With unemployment hovering at a stubborn 9 percent, it is no wonder that job creation has become a hot topic.  It is nearly impossible to read the news without encountering an article describing how a policy or industry creates a given number of jobs. These claims, however, rarely or clearly explain how job creation assessments are carried out and what the jobs numbers actually mean.  For many years, ACEEE has done analyses and written reports on the role of energy efficiency in creating jobs. This fact sheet seeks to de-mystify how net job impacts should be estimated, and demonstrate how investments in cost-effective energy efficiency improvements can yield a net positive benefit for the nation’s overall employment.