The Greening of the Work Force

April 15, 2009 — -- The traditionally tough, blue-collar neighborhood of South Boston, aka "Southie," is on the forefront of a "green" revolution and offers an example of a a blooming green work force.

Steel-toed construction workers helped erect the city's first green building, and now the Macallen building stands as a revolutionary, eco-friendly structure. It also represents a bridge to a greener future -- one the president said is essential to America's economic success in the 21st century.

President Obama has pledged to spend $150 billion in the next decade to create 5 million green jobs.

The huge undertaking involves mostly jobs in traditional industries, such as construction.

The message is clear: Green collar jobs are the wave of the future.

The new stimulus plan will inject about $70 billion into green jobs, and by next year, 10 percent of all new buildings are expected to be green, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.

More than 500 men and women built the Macallen building, and many of those jobs ran the entire length of construction.

But going green means retraining entire industries, as was done with the Macallen project.

Building a better facility meant learning a new set of skills, such as how to install a living roof made of soil and plants that sucks up carbon from dirty city air and helps cool and heat the building.

And the effort still wasn't without its skeptics.