More from the Opening the Door to Green Building Study which will be presented GreenExpo365.com on October 7 at 10:00 am PDT. For more information on the presentation.

Within any business sector, the successful introduction of new products or services can vary depending on the market’s adaptability, supply/demand, financial implications, innovation, social and political factors, etc. Green building is a perfect case study of a market that faces tactical, financial, social, political, regulatory and innovation forces that both hinder and help transformation. While certain geographies in the United States have embraced green building principles on an accelerated timetable, our region appears to continues to sort through these forces amidst the down cycle in construction.

EMBRACE OF GREEN BUILDING MESSAGE




As indicated above, the messages of green building have some basic traction but limited momentum across all categories. Though it has been “somewhat embraced” by 64% of the respondents’ clients, it falls to just 20% of those perceived to be “embracing” or “completely embracing”. The strongest response is related to the respective organizations of the respondents with 54% having indicated “embracing” or “completely embracing” the message of green building.

One respondent discussed the effect of the economy on the progress of green building:

“I believe the organization supports green building but clients, suppliers/customers have been hampered in their support by the struggle imposed by the economy.”

In reviewing individual respondent categories, general contractors and the real estate community are most skeptical in their perception of their clients’ attitudes with General Contractor/Trades and Real Estate/Tenant Leasing/Finance registering 90% and 85% between “not embraced” to “somewhat embraced”. Within organizations, the Architect/Interior designer category embrace the concept at 80% while only 20% of facility managers and 37% of building owners feel the same.


Two comments focused on education and paperwork:

“There is a lot of educating to be done to encourage participation in the industry.”

“Comments have not been received other than documentation/paperwork is too costly and time consuming.”

Those respondents who participate in the Commercial –Retail market had the lowest score relative to other market types with 20% of respondents indicating their clients as “not embraced” or “rarely embraced”. The highest score was the Hospitality market that registered 32% “embraced or higher”. Participants in the Municipal, Institutional and Senior Living markets rated their organizations from 65% - 68% of “embraced or higher” which were at the higher end of the markets. Surprisingly, the Government and Education markets did not vary significantly from the overall responses despite being two of the early adopters of green building. This could be attributable to green building being viewed more as a mandate by Federal, State and Local governments than a selected process based on its value proposition.


To read the entire study visit