LAKE TAHOE — The Lake Tahoe Basin could position itself to be at the forefront of the emerging green building and environmental innovation sectors, economists believe.

Environmental innovation could encompass three segments, said Trish Kelly, of Applied Development Economics: built environment, natural environment and green business operations. Below is a look at what each would mean to Tahoe.

What's next? Applied Development Economics is the Sacramento-based economic development firm in charge of spearheading the Lake Tahoe Basin Prosperity Plan. The plan highlights three clusters — health and wellness, geotourism and green building/environmental innovation — capable of igniting Tahoe's smoldering economy, according to ADE. After presenting the draft prosperity plan in mid-July, ADE continues to collect input from community residents, business owners and government representatives in preparation for a presentation to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency in September. The presentation was originally scheduled for the TRPA meeting in August, but it has been pushed back a month. Implementation of the final action plan could follow in October.

Built environment

Retrofitting existing homes, offices, hotels and government buildings will create jobs and help contractors and tradespeople who lost jobs once the housing bust began in 2006 and picked up steam later.

“There is an endless amount of work in retrofitting old buildings,” said Eli Meyer of the Sierra Green Building Association. “Primarily, the sector will provide jobs to laborers, who have struggled to find work since the new home market has atrophied.”

Energy auditors, landscapers, companies that transform recyclable substances into building materials and sustainable lighting specialists are also in the sector, Kelly said. 

“All of these job are place-based,” Kelly said. “You can't export trade jobs outside of the basin.”

Related businesses like consulting or training firms could appear around the green redevelopment sector, Kelly said..........read more

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