Green Retrofitting Surpasses New Green Construction for First Time

From:  Insurance Journal

[This trend is accelerating now, probably because of the strengthening of market acceptance and cost factors.] - Melinda
 
By Don Jergler | December 9, 2011

Green retrofitting of commercial buildings is outpacing the construction of new green buildings, according to a new report issued this week.

The trend could mean that more building owners may believe that bringing their buildings up to Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certification may not only be cost efficient, but the environmentally conscious thing to do. It could also mean that new construction has continued to plummet in the last four years, yielding few new green building projects on the drawing boards.

“The U.S. is home to more than 60 billion-square-feet of existing commercial buildings, and we know that most of those buildings are energy guzzlers and water sieves,” Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair of USGBC, said in a statement. “Greening these buildings takes hands-on work, creating precious jobs especially for construction workers. Making these existing buildings energy and water efficient has an enormous positive impact on the building’s cost of operations. And the indoor air quality improvements that go with less toxic cleaning solutions and better filtration create healthier places to live, work and learn.”

Historically, LEED-certified green projects were overwhelmingly made up of new construction projects, both in volume and square footage. That began to change in 2008, according to USGBC, when the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (O&M) program began experiencing explosive growth. In 2009, projects certified under LEED for Existing Buildings: O&M surpassed those certified under its new construction counterpart on an annual basis, a trend that continued in 2010 and 2011.  MORE