Green Residential Building on the Rise

by | Jun 6, 2014

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mcgrawSome 62 percent of firms building new single family homes report that they are doing more than 15 percent of their projects green and 84 percent of them expect this level of green activity by 2018, according to a report from McGraw Hill Construction.

Green Multifamily & Single Family Homes: Growth in a Recovering Market finds that builders and remodelers in both the single family and multifamily sectors report that the market is recognizing the value of green: 73 percent of single family builders (up from 61 percent since the last report) and 68 percent of multifamily builders say consumers will pay more for green homes.

Greater consumer interest in green homes has contributed to the ongoing growth, leading McGraw Hill Construction to anticipate that by 2016, the green single family housing market alone will represent approximately 26 percent to 33 percent of the market, translating to an $80 billion to $101 billion opportunity based on current forecasts.

The findings also suggest that lenders and appraisers may be starting to recognize the value of green homes, making it a factor that could help encourage the market to grow if there is more widespread awareness across the US, according to Harvey Bernstein, vice president, industry insights and alliances for McGraw Hill Construction.

The report also reveals a vigorous and growing renewables market in the residential sector with 65 percent of the respondents – both single family and multifamily – currently using renewables on at least some of their projects. The percentage that incorporate renewables in all of their projects is expected to grow from 8 percent in 2013 to 20 percent by 2016.

An open letter to the Green Building Initiative published in May alleged that Green Globes rating system is “greenwash.”

The letter, spearheaded by Greenwash Action, a joint initiative of Sierra Club and Greenpeace, and signed by several environmental and green building groups including the Natural Resources Defense Council and International Living Future Institute, urges GBI to stop attacking the LEED standard and called GBI’s Green Globes into question.

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