Hawai i's Green Workforce A Baseline Assessment December 2010

Methodology
Defining Green Jobs
There is no standard definition of what constitutes
a “green” job. At the national level, the US Bureau
of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently released what it
considers to be a final definition of green jobs based
upon public comments solicited during a six-month
period, March to September 2010. According to
this definition, “green jobs are either: (1) jobs in
businesses that produce goods or provide services
that benefit the environment or conserve natural
resources, or (2) jobs in which workers’ duties involve
making their establishment’s production processes
more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural
resources.” 3 The BLS will apply this definition for
data collection beginning in FY 2011.
Meanwhile, many states have already completed or
are currently undertaking surveys to measure green
jobs and related economic activity. Policy direction
and objectives specific to each state ultimately
determine the scope of what is considered green,
but the Workforce Information Council (WIC), a
consortium of state and federal statistical agencies,
has proposed its own working definition: “A green
job is one in which the work is essential to products
or services that improve energy efficiency, expand the
use of renewable energy, or support environmental
sustainability.” 4
In designing this survey and conducting its analyses,
the DLIR sought a definition that was neither overly
specific to be exclusionary nor so broad as to make
it not useful. Given the nascence in data collection
related to this area of the economy, and a recognition
that an understanding of green jobs is in many ways
shaped by the results of an initial assessment, we
chose to supplement a broad definition with a vetting
procedure. This approach provided a framework for
3 Federal Register, Vol. 75, No. 182.
4 Workforce Information Council Green Jobs Study Group, Final
Report, October 2009.
10 Hawaiÿi’s Green Workforce: A Baseline Assessment
Photo Courtesy of 21st Century Technologies Hawaiÿi
the design of a robust scientific survey instrument and
sampling procedure.
We define five core areas as green:
¾ Generate clean, renewable, sustainable energy
¾ Reduce pollution and waste; conserve natural
resources; recycle
¾ Energy efficiency
¾ Educational, training and support of a green
workforce
¾ Natural, environmental-friendly production
For the purposes of this report, we consider a green
job to be one that engages in economic activity that
makes a positive impact on the environment or energy
sustainability, either on a full- or part-time basis.
• Generate Clean, Renewable, Sustainable
Energy refers to jobs in research, development,
production, storage and distribution, and
maintenance of energy (electricity and fuel) from
renewable resources such as solar, wind, hydro,
geothermal, ocean, and biofuels. Clean energy
must have a positive net energy yield, relatively
reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and be produced
and distributed in a sustainable and safe manner.