The HawkEye Green Jobs Index®, published by Building Energy Performance News (BEPN), accelerated during the second quarter of 2010 reaching a new high of 237.32*, by increasing a whopping 84% over the same period a year ago. The index tracks new openings for green jobs nationwide.

This marks the fifth quarter in a row that the HawkEye Green Jobs Index® has experienced sequential double digit growth over the previous quarter (up 19% over Q4 2010), indicating an ever-increasing demand for people with skills and experience in the areas of alternative energy, sustainability, energy efficiency and conservation.

Employment opportunities appear to be growing at a particularly high rate in the area of energy efficiency and conservation. New job postings in this area saw an increase of 24% during the second quarter of 2010 over the first quarter. More remarkably, job openings in energy efficiency and conservation jumped by 120% compared to the same period in 2009.

The growth in green jobs also appears to be significantly higher than the rest of the job market. The Monster Employment Index, a measure of overall U.S. online job opportunities, reported a year-over-year growth of 21% compared to the 84% annual growth in green jobs based on the HawkEye Green Jobs Index®. The Monster Employment Index is published by Monster, one of the largest online job boards. Also when compared to the previous quarter, The Monster Index was up by 12%, while the HawkEye Green Jobs Index® rose by 19%.

There was a slight drop in green job postings in the month of June 2010 compared to May 2010. This is consistent with the monthly data reported by both Automated Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which show that private employers added fewer jobs in June than in May. In spite of this, the employment picture for green jobs continues to look bright.

*The HawkEye Green Jobs Index® was developed by Buonicore Partners, LLC and reflects new green job openings searched daily from over 100 Internet job boards, and base-lined against January 2009. See BEPN's HawkEye green jobs information center at (www.bepinfo.com/jobs/index.aspx) for more on this index and the market for green jobs.

Reprinted from Building Energy Performance News

Read more here: http://www.bepinfo.com/ViewArticle.aspx?aid=100713001&from=gateway&cce=31467

Tags: LEED, Green Jobs, Solar Jobs, Green Building, Energy Efficiency, Sustainability, Green Apple Group, U.S. Green Building Council, ICC 700, GreenGlobes, Life Cycle Analysis