Global green building levels are expected to double over the next two years as firms seek to reduce energy consumption and operating costs, according to a new study.
The World Green Building Trends 2016, Developing Markets Accelerate Global Green Growth report found that the percentage of companies expecting to have more than 60% of their building projects certified green is anticipated to more than double by 2018.
The study from Dodge Data & Analytics, and with support from United Technologies Corporation, found that 37% of companies asked will be seeking to have the majority of their facilities meet this standard, up from 18% currently.
While this worldwide growth is expected to come from countries like Brazil and Chine which still have developing green markets, the UK is also expected to contribute to this growth. Over 40% of UK respondents are expecting to conduct green retrofits in existing buildings.
A green project is classed as one that is either certified or built to qualify for certification under a recognised green standard, such as LEED, BREEAM, the DGNB System, Green Star and many other tools.
It is claimed that after carrying out research across 69 countries, reducing energy consumption continues to be the top environmental reason for building green as selected as one of the top two reasons by 66% of more than 1,000 respondents.
Terri Wills, chief executive of the World Green Building Council, said: “This study offers further evidence on the strong business case for green building – the growth of which is now truly a global phenomenon. 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.
Despite these expectations, the report also identified some potential obstacles to green building uptake. For markets like the US and Columbia, higher first costs were quickly identified while for the UK, the perception that green is for high end projects is a more prominent obstacle than in less established markets.
However, the report also suggested that new green buildings and retrofit measures could decrease operating costs and increase building value compared to non-green projects which will no doubt further fuel the desire to save cash through a green building programme.
