Three new surveys indicate that green building remains strong despite the uncertain global economy, with designers and builders anticipating an increasing number of green projects. McGraw-Hill Construction (MHC) has released two reports: “2012 World Green Building Trends” surveyed building-related firms in 62 countries, while “2013 Dodge Construction Green Outlook” focused on the expectations of U.S. firms. Turner Construction’s “Green Building Market Barometer” surveyed 718 executives of U.S. firms.
The reports indicate increasing demand for green building, with 81 percent of U.S. executives believing that the public expects them to institutionalize sustainability, according to the Dodge report. Worldwide, the MHC trends report found that firms’ top reasons for green projects were largely economic, from client and market demand to lower operating costs; this marks a shift from 2008, when the top reason given was “doing the right thing.” Overall, says United Technologies Corporation president Geraud Darnis, the new emphasis on value “confirms that we now see more pull than push for green buildings.” Firms not identifying any of their work as green still cite doing the right thing as the primary driver in green building and expressed concern with payback on upfront costs.
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