Construction + Economy

Sustainable Design a Fad?

I think that notion is being put to rest. In fact, green construction is expected to be a bright spot in the overall construction market during the current downturn and beyond.

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Consider:

* According to Turner Construction’s 2008 Green Building Market Barometer survey of 754 commercial real estate executives, significant percentages of respondents view green buildings as having lower operating costs and higher building values, asking rents, occupancy rates and overall return on investment.

* According to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), which administers the LEED green building rating system, 12 federal agencies and departments, 31 states and 122 cities—including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and others—have made commitments to use or encourage LEED in construction of certain public and, in several notable cases, private buildings. Click here for the latest list.

* The stimulus package has included billions to convert Federal facilities into high-performance green buildings.

* Green construction is expected to be a bright spot during the current downturn in the overall construction market and beyond. McGraw-Hill 2009 Green Outlook estimates demand for green construction to be 10-12% of the current commercial and institutional building market, predicting that demand will increase to 20-25% by 2013, or $96-140 billion.

As a primary building system, lighting has a critical role to play in sustainable buildings.

How do you know if lighting is “sustainable”? At first glance, the term appears to be a fancy way of saying energy-efficient lighting, but it’s become more than that. There has been an effort in the green building movement to tie efficient lighting to lighting practices that have been demonstrated by research to positively impact satisfaction with the built environment. LEED, for example, encourages daylighting and individually controllable lighting.

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Craig DiLouie

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