U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsThe Green Goods and Services (GGS) survey is based on a survey of approximately 120,000 business establishments throughout the United States. The primary statistics derived from the survey are annual estimates of employment in industries producing green goods or providing green services.
No, in order to get an accurate picture of the green economy, we need to hear from every company, even if your company is not involved in producing green goods or services.
You can return the survey by fax to 866-841-2917 or by email at GGSHelp@bls.gov. Alternatively, if you would like to complete the survey over the phone or if you have any questions, you can call the GGS help desk at 1-866-840-3801.
This Green Goods and Services Survey is not a mandatory survey, however your participation is critical to the developing of highly accurate data. This is the first nationwide green survey to be done and we are trying to collect the most accurate data possible. If your company is not a green company, we only need you to answer questions 1 – 4.
Internal green practices, such as recycling programs and use of renewable energy to power your business, are NOT considered green jobs for the GGS survey. The GGS survey only looks at whether or not an establishment’s product or service is green. However, those jobs are counted as green jobs on the BLS Green Technologies and Practices Survey.
No. Using such criteria would require BLS to determine, for example, what level of worker safety is high enough for the job to be included as a green job. Making such determinations would be inappropriate for a statistical agency, which must refrain from policy advocacy to main its credibility among data users.
BLS does not plan to collect demographic data in this survey.
Yes, this activity is included. It is categorized in renewable energy or in pollution and greenhouse gas reduction and cleanup, depending on what is being traded.
Improving the efficiency of the electric power grid, including Smart Grid technologies, is included in the Green Goods and Services survey. Construction of power transmission facilities to connect new renewable energy sources to the grid is also included. Electric power distribution services are not included, consistent with the exclusion of distribution of other green goods and services.
BLS has excluded processed organic agricultural products because the processing has no direct benefit to the environment compared to processing any other food. The benefit to the environment of organic products occurs when they are grown.
BLS has excluded the manufacture of intermediate and final goods from materials containing recycled inputs because these goods have no apparent benefit to the environment. The benefit to the environment of materials containing recycled inputs occurs when the materials are created, not when they are used in creation of other goods.
Establishments are classified into NAICS industries based on the goods or services that account for the majority of their revenue. Establishments not classified into an industry on the BLS list will not be included in the green goods and services survey, if a minority of their revenue is from sale of green goods or services, these goods or services and the jobs related to them will not be identified.
No. This limitation is imposed by nature of the BLS business list that will be used as the sampling frame. The business list is the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages that covers all business with employees covered by the UI or federal UI programs. The self-employed are not covered by these programs.
The BLS green jobs definition is not based on workers' skill sets, but instead on the environmental impact of the goods or services produced.
BLS has concluded that transporting or selling a green good has no direct benefit to the environment compared to transporting or selling any other good.