Green building certification to double by 2018, says new report
Published on 09/03/2016
Demand for green certified buildings is set to rapidly increase, a new report has found, with the market increasing fourfold over the next three years.
A new report by the World Green Building Council (WGBC) suggests a soaring green building interest in emerging markets, such as China, India and the Middle East, fuelling demand for green certification doubling by as early as 2018.
The report, titled World Green Building Trends 2016, was created by Dodge Data & Analytics and United Technologies Corporation, with backing from the WGBC, U.S Green Building Council and Saint-Gobain. It surveyed over 1,000 participants from 69 countries.
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18% of those building companies surveyed said that 60% or more of their projects independently certified as green. However, the report predicts that this number will more than quadruple to 87% from 2016 to 2018.
Where is this demand for green certification coming from? Partly from a rapidly growing green building market in the world’s foremost emerging economies. Brazil, for example, is expecting a six fold increase in the number of companies who expect to seek green certification – rising from 6% to 36% by 2018.
China follows, with growth expected to leap from 5% to 28%, followed by Saudi Arabia where growth is anticipated to rise from 8% to 32%.
"Green building is playing a critical role in the development of many emerging economies, particularly as their populations grow and create a pressing need for a built environment that is both sustainable and ensures a high quality of life," said Terri Wills, CEO of the WGBC.
Mr Willis also said the surge in demand was being driven by the increasingly widespread acceptance of the "strong business case for green building."
For example, building owners surveyed in the report said they had experienced a 7% increase in their green buildings’ value compared with traditional builds. This increase was noted by the WGBC as staying consistent if buildings are renovated using green technologies and materials.
Low operating costs and enhanced quality assurance were also highlighted by World Green Building Trends 2016 as compelling reasons as to securing green building certification.
Corporate customers surveyed in the report revealed that they were expecting to undertake at least one green commercial property project in the next three years. Nearly half of all respondents made these predictions for their businesses.
"The survey shows that global green building activity continues to double every three years," said John Mandyck, chief sustainability officer at United Technologies Corporation, in a statement. "More people recognize the economic and productivity value that green buildings bring to property owners and tenants, along with the energy and water benefits to the environment, which is driving the green building industry's growth. It's a win-win for people, planet and the economy."
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