Top 10 green building trends in 2012 Inman News
Editor's note: This article is republished with permission of Builder magazine.
View the original article: "Green Building Megatrends for 2012."
By CLAIRE EASLEY
Jerry Yudelson is about as green as they come. In his more than 25 years of work in sustainability, he has been a member of the U.S. Green Building Council's board of directors, a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) national faculty member, and is the co-founder and director of the Green Building Service consulting unit at Portland General Electric. Last year, Wired magazine dubbed him "the godfather of green."
So what does the industry insider have to say about where things are going? "The construction industry is going to have modest growth this year," Yudelson said Tuesday in a webinar on GreenExpo365. "It seems that most people have figured out that the sky isn't going to fall in and they are going to get back to doing business ... but with an emphasis on what I call 'frugal green.'
"In the past there was a feeling that you could spend money to add green features. I think today the real challenge for construction and design professionals is 'How do I do this on the same budget?' and I think that's the core trend."
Yudelson unveiled a list of 10 other green megatrends destined for growth in 2012, both in the U.S. and abroad. And while, like the rest of the homebuilding industry, green building will certainly face headwinds in coming days -- such as squeezed budgets among families and governments -- the market is poised for growth, he says. "You make money if you go green. If you don't go green, you're at a marketplace disadvantage."
