May 2010 issue of Builder & Developer magazine featured an article entitled “Green Building Grows from Infant to Toddler, by real-estate adviser Patrick S. Duffy. The article explorers the pros and cons that builders have struggled with as the increasing demand for green building.
According to the 4th Annual Green Building Survey by the law firm Allen Matkins, Construction Technologies Group (CTG) and Green Building Insider, support among over 1,600 design and construction professionals for green building remains extremely high at 92%.
Not surprisingly, the growth of the global green building sector is on a tear, totaling over $500 billion in 2009 and expected to continue growing at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 110% between now and 2015.
To counteract that risk, some important strategies have emerged, including retaining specialized consultants (including those certified by groups such as the U.S. Green Building Counsel’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED), measuring and re-commissioning existing systems to maximize energy savings, regular testing and, to tie it all together, shifting the risks through insurance contracts.
And yet as these same professionals now have a few projects completed, they’ve come to realize that accompanying the greater complexity of green building is the perception of more construction risk.
Duff also pointed out that more and more home buyers are looking for cleaner indoor air, more energy savings and low operating costs. Green homes have become a crucial market differentiators, so it is no longer just environmental friendly, but good business.
