Intelligent buildings grow by 14% in the US

Nov. 19, 2010 - PRLog -- Recent findings from the third annual "Green Building Market & Impact Report" have shown that despite precipitous declines in the rate of growth of the economy, the total amount of LEED-certified intelligent buildings grew by one billion square feet in 2010, up to eight billion, which is a growth rate of 14%.

The findings, however, are both encouraging and cautionary. Overall, intelligent buildings are making a major impact in reducing the overall carbon footprint of individual structures. However, significant additional progress is possible and indeed necessary on both the individual building level and in terms of market penetration if intelligent buildings are to contribute in a meaningful way to reducing the carbon footprint of buildings worldwide.

The report researched and written by Rob Watson, the "godfather of LEED", shows that growth continues to be strong outside the US, especially in India, the United Arab Emirates, and China, the three countries with the most overall LEED-certified square footage.

Intelligent buildings are energy and resource efficient, non-polluting and non-wasteful, flexible, adaptable and easy to operate. They also provide an environment for their occupants, which exhibit enhanced comfort levels and are conducive to increased levels of interaction, collaboration and work productivity. The LEED certification has become an important driving force, helping to make intelligent buildings a reality.

The Green Building Market & Impact Report looks far beyond just the growth of LEED square footage. The report examines the environmental impacts of intelligent buildings in a number of areas, including:

   * Energy efficiency and renewable
   * Site impacts on employee commute distances
   * Water savings
   * Indoor Air Quality and productivity impacts
   * Growth of LEED-certified wood products

Intelligent buildings currently save approximately 8 million tons of carbon emissions in the US from energy efficiency and renewables, a figure that is meant to grow to 64 million tons per year by 2020 and almost 170 million tons annually by 2030 - about 3% of the US current annual carbon footprint.

However, Watson writes in the report, "While the fact that these savings show up at all is impressive, given our massive carbon budget," but he remarked that "comparing a 3% reduction in 2030 to the needed 80% in 2050 seems pretty daunting."

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