Green Building Adds $500 Billion to GDP

GREENandSAVE News — Another new report (PDF) from the U.S. Green Buildings Council (USGBC) and Booz Allen Hamilton forecasts the green building sector to more than triple its contribution to the U.S. gross domestic product. According to the report, the green building industry provided $178 billion in the eight-year period from 2000 to 2008 and will add an additional $554 billion to the GDP in the next four years, plus nearly $400 billion in wages.

Furthermore, the green building market will generate almost eight million jobs in the next four years, the report says. The retrofitting market to increase energy efficiency in existing buildings is also growing, according to a new report conducted by McGraw Hill Construction, a leading provider of project and product information to industry news, trends and forecasts. The report predicts the retrofit market to be a $10-15 billion market by 2014.

As an added benefit to both the green buildings and job market in general, employees working in green buildings are more productive than those working in non-green buildings, say researchers at the University of San Diego's Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate and CB Richard Ellis.

Environmental Leader recently featured a discussion by Simon Parsons, a business consultant for IBM Global Business Services, as to how sustainable property management reduces costs associated with energy. Costs can be reduced with lighting upgrades, installing motion sensors, additional insulation or implementing renewable energy such as solar or wind to power a building’s operation.