Green and greener
We hear a lot about the green building sector these days, and as time goes on, it’s looking like less and less of a fad.
The United States Green Building Council reports that the green building sector of the national economy continues to rise despite slowdowns in other sectors. Its popularity has been bolstered as businesses look for ways to cut operating costs and consumers seek more economically sustainable homes.
Here are some numbers to help quantify the green building sector’s growth:
• 75 percent of commercial real estate executives said the credit crunch wouldn’t discourage them from building green. This includes developers, rental building owners, brokers, architects and engineers surveyed in a study for Turner Construction Co.’s Green Building Barometer.
• Projects certified by USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System are tied to more than $10 billion in green materials, and that could increase to at least $100 billion by 2020, according to a study by Greener World Media.
• More than 80 percent of commercial building owners set aside money for green initiatives in 2008, and 45 percent plan to boost those investments in 2009, according to the 2008 Green Survey: Existing Buildings by USGBC and three other entities.
• 70 percent of homebuyers are more inclined to buy a green home rather than a traditional home in a down market, according to McGraw-Hill Construction’s 2008 SmartMarket Report. Interest in green homes was at 78 percent among those who earn less than $50,000 a year.
• The green building market is likely to more than double to at least $96 billion by 2013, according to McGraw-Hill Construction’s SmartMarket Report. Green building is expected to comprise at least 20 percent of new commercial and institutional construction starts by 2013.
As we’ve all seen recently, the building industry has a way of impacting the economy at large. What lasting impacts do you expect the green economy will have on your work in 2009?
–Charity Thompson can be reached at cthompson@vbjusa.com
