WASHINGTON, DC -  Remodeling and construction leaders saw hope in White House's $447 billion proposal to boost the economy, though some quarters prefer residential housing over  public works projects - a major thrust of the initiative. Offers of payroll tax relief, outlined in President Obama's address to Congress Thuresday evening, also garnered small business support.

“As the president made clear last night, too many Americans are out of work or underemployed," said Stephen Sandherr, CEO of the Associated General Contractors.

"Nowhere do we see that problem more severely than within the construction industry." Sandherr said that construction workers accounted for 20 percent of jobs lost, despite representing just 4.5 percent of the U.S. workforce. Construction unemployment stands at 13.5 percent, almost 50 percent higher national average.

The plan would halve the employer's payroll tax from 6.2% t 3.2%, and channel funds to induce businesses to hire workers. Rick Fedrizzi, CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council, also commended Obama's plan.

"It is clear that we must rebuild and modernize our increasingly brittle built environment," said  Fedrizzi. "The thousands of building sector professionals and small businesses, hard hit by the struggling economy, can be put back to work overnight. We just need to get on with it."

Fedrizzi was particularly bullish on aspects of the plan centered around energy retrofits of public buildings like schools and government offices. "The jobs and innovation embedded in this one activity, are a cornerstone to broader economic recovery in every sector," said Fedrizzi. "We know we could be saving $130 billion a year if we had greener, more efficient buildings and create nearly one million jobs in the process." Fedrizzi said that for every billion dollars invested at home in U.S. infrastructure, 25,000 well-paying jobs are created.

"In commercial buildings, we know fixing the tax incentive for energy efficient commercial buildings, Section 179D, could create 77,000 additional jobs in energy efficiency. I hope Congress will strongly consider this common sense tax fix," he said.

More sanguine was Bob Nielsen, a home builder from Reno, NV, who is also chairman of the National Assn. of Home Builders.

"While the nation's home builders commend President Obama for tackling critical employment issues, it's discouraging that the Administration still fails to recognize that housing has a central role to play in restoring the nation's workforce," said Nielsen.

Nielsen noted that housing normally accounts for 18 percent of the nation's gross domestic product. "Nothing packs a bigger local economic impact than home building," he said, estimating  that constructing 100 average single-family homes generates more than 300 full-time jobs, $23.1 million in wage and business income and $8.9 million in federal, state and local tax revenue.