Green building consultant Jerry Yudelson has released his list of the top 10 green building megatrends for 2014. “Green building is the tsunami of the future that will inundate the entire real estate industry,” Yudelson said in a press release on the list. Are you prepared to capitalize on these trends? Are there other trends you would add?
Yudelson’s top 10 green building megatrends for 2014 are:
- Green building in North American will continue its strong growth in 2014.
- The focus on energy efficiency in all buildings will continue to grow, as will the role of building automation for energy efficiency using cloud-based systems.
- The design and operation of net-zero-energy buildings will continue to grow.
- LEED will attract competitors as never before.
- The green building industry’s focus will continue to shift from new construction to existing buildings.
- Green buildings will increasingly be managed by IT systems based in the cloud, with Yudelson dubbing 2014 “the year of the cloud.”
- Green building performance disclosure will spread rapidly.
- Healthy building products, product disclosure declarations, and various “red lists” of chemicals of concern will become increasingly contentious.
- Solar power use in buildings will continue to grow
- Awareness of the scarcity of water and an associated growing crisis in fresh water supply will increase globally.