Source: The NEWS (November 29, 2018) Overall, global green building activity continues to rise, with significant increases expected in 19 countries over the next three years, according to the results of the Dodge Data & Analytics World Green Building Trends 2018 SmartMarket Report, to which the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a contributing partner. Importantly, nearly half of survey respondents expect that the majority of their projects in the next three years will be green buildings.
“With more and more people demanding and expecting healthier places to live and work, more and more leaders around the globe are committing to green building, which is now a trillion-dollar industry,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO of USGBC. “For the last 25 years, LEED has helped transform building practices. It continues to push the top performers, but we know that we can’t leave the other 80-90 percent of buildings behind. We need to get all buildings on a path to sustainability in order to raise the standard of living for all people around the world, regardless of their circumstances. And the results of this study show we are on the right path.”
Two-thirds of survey participants report that using a rating system like LEED allows them to create a better performing building, and more than half of respondents believe that rating systems provide third party verification that ensures buildings are running in a sustainable manner.
As green building becomes more common, certification becomes more of an expectation in many markets. While client demands and environmental regulations remain top motivators, creating healthier buildings emerged as an important trigger for green building globally. According to the study, improving occupant health ranks first among social drivers for green building, followed by encouraging sustainable business practices and improved worker productivity. The growing importance of occupant health reinforces a recent USGBC survey that found employees working in LEED-certified green buildings were happier, healthier, and more productive than those in non-certified or conventional office buildings.
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