USGBC Predicts Green Building to Represent Half U.S. Construction

WASHINGTON — The USGBC released a new report, LEED in Motion: People and Progress, which shows that green building may represent more than half of all commercial and institutional construction by 2016. This is the first of three reports in the LEED in Motion series and it specifically examines individuals and organizations that are driving and benefitting from green building and using graphics, charts and other tools to showcase a positive outcome.

The first part of the study, Occupants and Industry, researched the millions of people that use green buildings as residents and tenants. The USGBC estimates that more than 4.3 million people live and work in LEED-certified buildings, while more than 6.2 million people experience a LEED-certified project during their daily routine.

In 2012, green building represented about 44 percent of all commercial and institutional construction in the U.S., and that number is expected to grow to 55 percent by 2016. The report said that green building could top $140 billion in revenue with 835 million square feet of construction this year, and that number could top $248 billion by 2016. About 35 percent of all U.S. construction jobs today are in green building.

The report also said that residential projects are growing in the green building sector. The USGBC found there are 93,120 bedrooms in 10,174 LEED-certified, single-family homes and 1,236 LEED-certified multifamily buildings.

The LEED Professionals section of the report highlights more than 186,000 LEED credential holders who are actively applying their specialized knowledge of LEED to advance the green building rating system.

The report notes the top 10 U.S. states for LEED Professionals: California, New York, Texas, Illinois, Florida, Virginia, Georgia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Colorado. The report also examines the nearly 13,000 USGBC member organizations that represent 13 million employees and $1.8 trillion in combined revenue.

USGBC will release the next two LEED in Motion reports, Places and Policies and Impacts and Innovation, later this year.

The USGBC report follows two studies from McGraw-Hill Construction that were released in late 2012 and early 2013 that also made a case for green building, stating that green building construction is expected to double by 2016.