Green Building Accelerates Globally through Economic Downturn, According to New McGraw-Hill Construction Study

Green Building Accelerates Globally through Economic Downturn, According to New McGraw-Hill Construction Study PR Newswire NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2012 -- Green building has become a long-term business opportunity with 51% percent of study firms planning more than 60% of their work to be green by 2015, up from 28 percent of firms in 2012 -- The largest opportunity areas for green building globally are in new commercial construction and renovation of existing buildings NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Around the world, the green building marketplace is accelerating, according to a new study being released by McGraw-Hill Construction in partnership with United Technologies today at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in San Francisco. The study indicates a shift in the global construction market, now viewing green as a business opportunity rather than a niche market. Overwhelmingly, firms report that their top reasons to do green work are client demand (35 percent) and market demand (33 percent) -- two key business drivers of strategic planning. The next top reasons were also oriented toward the corporate bottom line -- lower operating costs (30 percent) and branding advantage (30 percent). In contrast, the top reason in 2008 motivating the green building market was doing the right thing (42 percent) and market transformation (35 percent), followed by client and market demand.