Business Imperative and Market Demand Driving Green Building Growth

In 2012, 89 percent of global industry professionals report using or specifying a green building product, and even more—91 percent—expect to do so by 2017. The most significant green building product opportunities are in the categories of electrical, mechanical, and thermal and moisture protection with at least 60 percent of survey respondents stating that they had installed or specified products in these categories in 2012, with a slightly higher percentage expecting to do so by 2017.

Given its importance, measuring lower operating costs is also the most used metric to evaluate green building performance—reported by 52 percent. These benefits are particularly important given that they can offset the higher initial costs that 76 percent of the industry report as the biggest challenge to building green.

The findings published in the report are drawn from a McGraw-Hill Construction survey of firms across 62 countries around the world. Firms include architects, engineers, contractors, consultants and building owners.

The study was produced in partnership with United Technologies with support from the World Green Building Council and the U.S. Green Building Council. Other research association partners include the Chartered Institute of Buildings, International Federation of Consulting Engineers (Fédération Internationale Des Ingénieurs-Conseils), Association for Consultancy and Engineering, Conseil International du Bâtiment (International Council for Building), Architect’s Council of Europe, and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. A separate survey of global manufacturing firms was also conducted.

For more key findings from the World Green Building Trends SmartMarket Report, visit http://analyticsstore.construction.com/index.php/world-green-building-trends-smartmarket-report-2013.html.