Energy-efficient building trend will spur demand for insulation workers

February 27, 2009

Energy-efficient building trend will spur demand for insulation workers

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Pay: Floor, ceiling and wall insulation workers in the state earned a median wage of $14.41 an hour, or $29,970 a year, in 2007, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Mechanical insulation workers, who fit vats, tanks, vessels, boilers and pipes, earn more. Their median wage was $19.17 an hour, or $39,980 a year.

The job: Workers install insulation of many sorts in new and existing buildings. Older, existing insulation often contains cancer-causing asbestos, and workers in both the floor-wall-ceiling and the mechanical fields must remove it with great care.

Demand: Employment is expected to increase about as fast as the average for all occupations. Demand will be spurred by the need for energy-efficient buildings and power-plant construction, which will generate work in existing structures and new construction. Those in the construction industry — 91 percent of insulation workers — will experience its cyclic slowdowns.

Training: Most learn their trade informally on the job, although some complete formal apprenticeship programs of four or five years' on-the-job training plus some study. Asbestos work requires special training and EPA certification.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: www.stats.bls.gov/oco

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