From what we're hearing lately, President Obama is planning to layout a new plan for US job growth in the next week or two.  There's a lot of speculation as to what Obama may propose, but one jobs strategy that keeps coming up may entail a plan to invest in energy-efficiency projects in America's schools. 

If executed correctly, retrofitting thousands of school buildings for energy and water efficiency would lock in valuable, long-term operational cost savings for school district facilities, allowing schools to hire more teachers and buy needed materials with the money saved.  According to ENERGY STAR, America's schools spend over $7.5 billion annually on energy - more than textbooks and computers combined.  That's probably not in the best interest of students, parents, teachers or taxpayers.  Not to mention, studies have shown (and common sense tells us) that America's future innovators and business leaders will learn more when they are not too hot or cold, and with better natural or electric lighting.

Lets see how this plays out.  It could get interesting for those looking for more local work in green building, renewable energy, and the construction industry overall.  Of course, we'd like to see the President lay out ambitious incentives for retrofitting private-sector buildings and for putting millions of more people back to work.  Hopefully, Obama will dust off his big, bold "Better Buildings Initiative" for use in his new job plans.  It would be the smart thing to do, but that doesn't seem to mean much in D.C.