• Article By | CROFT

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Green Building Accelerates Globally through Economic Downturn, According to New McGraw-Hill Construction Study

  • Green building has become a long-term business opportunity with 51% percent of study firms planning more than 60 % of their work to be green by 2015, up from 28 percent of firms in 2012 
  • The largest opportunity areas for green building globally are in new commercial construction and renovation of existing buildings

The study indicates a shift in the global construction market, now viewing green as a business opportunity rather than a niche market. Overwhelmingly, firms report that their top reasons to do green work are client demand (35 percent) and market demand (33 percent)—two key business drivers of strategic planning. The next top reasons were also oriented toward the corporate bottom line—lower operating costs (30 percent) and branding advantage (30 percent). In contrast, the top reason in 2008 motivating the green building market was doing the right thing (42 percent) and market transformation (35 percent), followed by client and market demand.

Other significant findings include:

  • Human factor benefits are driving green building more today compared to three years ago—55 percent cite greater health and well-being as the top social reason for green (tied with encouraging sustainable business practice), up from only 29 percent in 2008.
  • Energy use reduction tops the environmental reasons for green building—72 percent say it is the important environmental reason to engage in green building.
  • Water use reduction is more important today. 25 percent of study respondents cite reduced water consumption as the top reason, up from only 4 percent in 2008. It is particularly important in the UAE (64 percent cite it as a top reason), Brazil (39 percent), and the U.S. (32 percent), ranking as the second most important environmental factor in these countries.
  • Improved indoor air quality is also more important today—17 percent cite it as a top reason to engage in green building, up from only 3 percent in 2008.
  •  For firms not currently doing any green project work, the primary driver that they think will motivate future green activity is the desire to do the right thing. This is in sharp contrast to those involved, suggesting this market is not as familiar with the business case for green building.

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