by Brianna Crandall — March 28, 2016—Companies involved in U.S. construction plan on intensifying their involvement in green building over the next three years, according to the new World Green Building Trends Study from Dodge Data and Analytics, conducted with support from United Technologies Corp. and its UTC Climate, Controls and Security business. The United States is also one of the global leaders in the percentage of firms expecting to construct new green institutional projects and green retrofits of existing buildings.
The global study, which received additional support from Saint-Gobain, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Regenerative Network, positions the USA as a strong participant in the global green movement. Responses from more than 1,000 building professionals from 60 countries place the U.S. green industry in context. The study also provides specific comparisons with 12 other countries from which a sufficient response was gained to allow for statistical analysis: Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Germany, India, Mexico, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
According to the report, U.S. construction should see an increase in the share of green work in the next few years, largely as a result of companies intensifying their involvement in the green building industry. An increasing percentage of respondents projected that more than 60% of their projects would be green projects — from 24% of respondents in 2015 to 39% in 2018. Respondents projecting that fewer than 15% of their projects would be certified green plummeted from 41% in 2015 to 27% by 2018.
While this increased share of green building is impressive, it is significantly less than many developing countries included in the survey, notes Dodge. For example, Brazil expects sixfold growth (from 6% to 36%) in the percentage of companies conducting a majority of their projects green; fivefold growth is expected in China (from 5% to 28%); and fourfold growth is expected in Saudi Arabia (from 8% to 32%).
Stephen Jones, senior director of Industry Insights, Dodge Data and Analytics, points out:
The strong U.S. industry for green building projects is clearly an opportunity for U.S. firms, but so is the rapid rise of green in many of the developing countries. Expertise from experienced green designers, builders and manufacturers from the U.S. is likely to be essential to support the aggressive green building expectations revealed by the study respondents.
In the United States, the highest percentage of respondents report that they expect to work on new green institutional projects (such as schools, hospitals and public buildings), green retrofits of existing buildings, and new green commercial construction (such as office and retail buildings) in the next three years. To compare with global averages:
- 46% of U.S. respondents expect to work on new green institutional buildings, compared to 38% globally;
- 43% of U.S. respondents plan to work on green retrofits of existing buildings, again well above the global average of 37%.
The USA is also distinguished from the global findings in terms of the importance it places on reducing energy consumption as an environmental reason for building green. Over three-quarters (76%) of U.S. respondents consider this important, nearly double the percentage of the next most important environmental factor, which is reducing water consumption. While the other 12 countries in the study prioritize the reduction of energy consumption, only Germany, Poland and Singapore do so to the same extent.
United Technologies Chief Sustainability Officer John Mandyck notes:
The survey shows that global green building activity continues to double every three years. More people recognize the economic and productivity value that green buildings bring to property owners and tenants, along with the energy and water benefits to the environment, which is driving the green building industry’s growth. It’s a win-win for people, planet and the economy.
The study demonstrates the benefits of building green, with median operating cost decreases for green buildings of 9% expected in just one year globally. Building owners also report seeing a median increase of 7% in the value of their green buildings compared to traditional buildings, an increase that is consistent between newly built green buildings and those that are renovated green. These business benefits are a critical driver for the growth of green building anticipated globally.
The United States is also notable for having the lowest percentage of respondents who report that their company uses metrics to track green building performance. Only 57% of U.S. respondents report using metrics, compared to a 75% average globally. This may be linked to the fact that the USA is also the country with the highest level of concern reported about higher perceived first costs for green building, notably more than the percentage who consider this an important challenge to green in other developed countries with active construction markets like Germany and the U.K.
The full World Green Building Trends 2016: Developing Markets Accelerate Global Green Growth SmartMarket Report, and the U.S. report, World Green Building Trends 2016: United States, are available for free download from Dodge Data and Analytics.
