Resolution for 2013: Build Greener | or Green Building Trends From No Less Than Jerry Yudelson
Whether you’re all for retrofitting or building anew, what matters is we’re all building green.
For the new year, building greener is better of course. As new year’s resolution go, green building is relatively easy to keep, compared to, say, dieting or reducing time spent tweaking statuses at Facebook, both of which must be year-long efforts. With green building, you only have to do it about once or twice a year—when you renovate the patio, for example, or redo the kitchen (unless of course green building is your trade).
Which leads us to a recent article by no less than the Jerry Yuldeson, dubbed the “Godfather of Green” by Wired Magazine. Writing for Sustainableindustries.com, Yudelson shares his insights about what to expect from green building for the year 2013.
Here’s an enumeration of his Ten Green Building Trends this year:
1. Green building in North America will rebound strongly in 2013, using LEED project registrations as a proxy for this growth.
2. The focus of the green building industry will continue to switch from new building design and construction to greening existing buildings.
3. Green Buildings will increasingly be managed in the “Cloud”.
4. Awareness of the coming crisis in fresh water supply, both globally and in the U.S., will increase, leading building designers, owners and managers to take further steps to reduce water consumption in buildings by using more conserving fixtures, rainwater recovery systems and innovative onsite water technologies.
5. The global green building movement will continue to accelerate, as more countries begin to create their own green building incentives and develop their own Green Building Councils.
6. Zero-net-energy buildings will become increasingly commonplace.
7. Performance disclosure will be the fastest emerging trend.
8. Transparency and “Red List” chemicals will become a subject of contention.
9. Local and state governments will step up their mandates for green buildings for both themselves and the private sector.
10. Solar power use in buildings will continue to grow.
Of course all of these positive trends are good to anticipate—especially Nos. 6 (Zero-net energy) and 7 (Performance disclosure). And with earth’s groundwater steadily drying up more than it can be replenished, Number 4 is really a must—no wonder Yuldeson has placed it fourth in his list.
Number 1, however, as Lloyd Alter points out, is slightly uncertain in light of all the criticisms, backlash, and pressure on LEED last year, especially from lumber and plastics industries, and even the federal government.
Number 5, the creation of green building councils by other countries, should really happen, since not all provisions of LEED is applicable to all countries. Tropical settings, for sure, will require a different gauge of energy efficiency.
It’s interesting to note that Yuldeson cites cloud-based services for managing green buildings. Smart buildings are indeed on the rise—just like our smart cars and smartphones and practically everything else that technology can improve on.
In all of these, Yuldeson left out one thing, and this is increased awareness by the public about green building. Maybe because in reality that’s not yet happening. But all in all, we look forward to a greener future for green building this 2013.
Read more of the full article here.
