11 Quirkiest Jobs That Will Be Billion-Dollar Industries by 2026 (Includes 4 Wildcards)

5. Urban Climate Retrofit Specialists: Street-Level Decarbonizers

Retrofitting existing buildings for energy efficiency creates a field of specialists who combine engineering, materials know-how, and project finance. These experts identify heat-loss points, design HVAC upgrades, and coordinate electrification and insulation projects that reduce carbon and costs. Governments and utilities are rolling out incentives and rebate programs that underwrite large retrofit pipelines; Deloitte and McKinsey note infrastructure and green-building spending among top drivers of job growth. This role looks quirky because it pairs old-fashioned trades with data analytics and financing models. Companies that aggregate retrofits into portfolio services can scale revenue by moving beyond one-off jobs to subscription-style energy services for building owners. Evidence supporting industry growth includes public policy packages, corporate net-zero commitments, and construction workforce trends captured by BLS and industry reports. Predicting a single occupational category reaching billion-dollar industry status depends on aggregation—platform firms that package many retrofit projects could create that scale, and early signs point toward that possibility.