Hi I'm Jon. I'm young. 22 young. A few days ago I decided that I wanted to get into green roofing, or green building in general. I'm wondering where do I start? How do I get a job? And most importantly how is this forum organized? Thank you!

Green roofs, work for an ICF contractor. It started as an ICF website, diversified and grew from there.

You need to get a job with a contractor who shares your ideals and learn the ropes starting as a grunt and if your cut out for building you'll advance to maybe a lead carpenter years down the road and then you'll probably want to "go out on your own" as its called because you'll be jealous of your boss' new truck and all his equipment and tools while you feel like your doing all the work. It's then you'll sink or swim as alot of carpenters aren't very good business owners.

Roofing is a good start for a young guy, the money can be awesome but it'll take a toll on your body fast. It's a good way to raise lots of capital fast if you're starting out as a new businessowner if you are at that level.

Hope this helps.

Jon,

It appears to me that you have a pretty good head on your shoulders, and you've taken the time to look forward and see that building green is the way that future construction is going, and you want to get involved. There are two basic things that you need. First, learn everything you can about building green, and there's a lot to learn. ICF's, SIP's, solar, wind, hydrothermal and green building materials. Reading these forums is a good start, and give you a list of things to start your research. Oak Ridge National Labratory (www.ornl.gov) is another place to look, as they test many products to evaluate thier effectiveness in saving energy. Second, you will need experience. Find a builder in your area that uses energy saving materials and builds green homes, and see if he will hire you, and learn all you can.

Good luck, and I believe that you will have a very satisfing career.

Steve
GrandCountySIPs.com

I should add if you need correct technique visit JLC, Breaktime or ContractorTalk forums and read and read some more. That is where you can learn field techniques, errors and how to avoid them and how to work efficiently. This is more of a DIY'er/product site where your not going to learn much in the way of relevant field construction knowledge.