An extended effort to go green will help create several Maryland construction jobs.

Gov. Martin O’Malley recently announced that the State of Maryland is expanding its home weatherization program, which is designed to benefit thousands of low-income families and create new construction jobs throughout the state. The funding will be stretched out over three years and weatherize about 6,800 homes. On top of that, at least 150 green-collar jobs will be created through local weatherization agencies.

“As families throughout Maryland struggle to pay their energy bills, we are able to take significant steps to reduce their energy costs, while ensuring their health and safety, thanks to the President’s economic recovery plan,” O’Malley said.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will provide $61 million to fund the state’s Weatherization Assistance Program. Of that funding, $44.5 million will be used for home weatherization improvements and about $11 million will be used for training and technical assistance.

“The Recovery Act is putting people back to work and helping homeowners save money,” Congressman Chris Van Hollen said. “With these home weatherization funds being distributed to Maryland families, more than 9,400 homes will see their heating bills drop by a third.”

The weatherization program, which is managed by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, benefits low-income families by providing a maximum of $6,500 in weatherization-related services, such as air infiltration reduction, insulation, hot water system improvements, lighting retrofits and furnace repairs or improvements.

To qualify for weatherization assistance, families must have household incomes below 200 percent of the poverty level or 60 percent of the median income.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 at 3:13 pm and is filed under Jobs, Green Jobs, Construction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.