Green Building Increases Even Through Recession

American’s spent less on construction in 2009, $900 billion less in fact. The money that was spent, however, was directed toward energy efficiency. There were 4 times more LEED certified projects in 2009 than in 2007! With state and federal mandates to increase efficiency and incentives to go green, clients are pushing contractors to make their houses and office buildings more efficient, more green.
People are starting to see efficiency as the right thing to do, but that are also being forced to build efficiently due to increasingly strict building codes. Some communities take the mandates that are already set and make them stricter with stretch codes. These are codes that the state sets that are minimum levels of efficiency but cities are given room to increase these levels.
Some clients are leery about getting LEED certified. There is a 3-6% increase in cost to get certified, so a lot of people are building greener but they don’t pay the extra amount for the LEED certification. While we are at an all-time high for LEED certified projects, there may be many more that are LEED quality that just do not have the certification. Contractors are blaming the poor economy for clients not wanting to pay the 3-6% increase. When the economy rises again, we should expect to see even more LEED certified homes and businesses.