Building green is no longer just an indicator that a company wants to do the right thing—now it symbolizes client and market demand as well as adding to a business’s bottom line, according to a new study released by McGraw-Hill Construction and United Technologies.
Presenting the study from San Francisco, at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, United Technologies CEO Geraud Darnis said the market has shifted and green building is now a consumer request instead of a supplier option. According to the study, firms reported that client demand and market demand were the top reasons for taking on green work, totaling 35 percent and 33 percent, respectively.
By 2015, 63 percent of firms say they will have green work completed or under way for new commercial projects, and 45 percent say the same for new institutional projects. The numbers are even higher in other countries such as Brazil and Singapore.
Jane Henley, president of the World Green Building Council, said in a statement, “We’ve been on the ground watching the markets shift to green around the world. Today, there are green building councils in 92 countries around the world—more than double what it was when we first looked at the green building market globally in 2008.”
The full report will be released in early 2013 as part of McGraw-Hill Construction’s SmartMarket Report series.