The 2021 World Green Building Trends Study recently surveyed 1,207 industry professionals to identify current and upcoming trends in the green building sector.
The report, issued by the Dodge Construction Network in partnership with the World Green Building Council, offers the following highlights from Canadian respondents.
How Practitioners Plan to Build Greener
The survey asked industry experts to identify the most important approaches to improving sustainability in building projects, as well as which approaches they themselves planned on using in the next five years.
Topping the list of responses was the creation of net zero and net-positive buildings. Second on the list was controlling and finding ways to reduce embodied carbon.
Passive building design came third, followed by utilizing strategies to increase resiliency, prefab and modular construction and finally, design for disassembly and recovery.
Making the Financial Case for Green Building
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The report shares some key findings that show the financial benefits of green building in Canada, as well, including:
- a 12.8% average reduction in operating costs over a new green building’s first year, with a 19.3% reduction in operating costs over 5 years
- a 10.4% average reduction in operating costs in the first year following a green renovation, with a 15.1% reduction in operating costs over 5 years
- an 8.2% average increase in the asset value of new green buildings and buildings that have undergone green renovations, as reported by building owners
Canadian Perspectives
According to the study, the green building industry in Canada is active and growing. 52% of respondents stated that they expected to make the majority of their building projects green over the next three years.
The survey suggests that the largest percentage of green building projects over the next three years will be retrofits (54%) followed by new institutional construction (40%) and new commercial construction (33%).
The study also gives some insight into what might motivate industry professionals to build green, and what might stop them.
Most respondents (88%) rated energy conservation as a top reason why they choose to build more sustainably, followed by the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (86%).
The top barriers to green building projects were perceived or actual cost, followed by a lack of political support and incentives. Only 33% of those surveyed felt market demand wasn’t strong enough to support a project.
When asked what would trigger them to engage in more green projects, practitioners gave some encouraging answers. The top motivation, greater even than financial benefits, regulatory requirements and client demands, was simply that it’s the right thing to do.
Image credit: CHUTTERSNAP
