Anyone who follows LifeStyle Homes knows that we’re all about environmentally conscious, energy-efficient home building practices—more commonly known as “green home building.” We adopted this higher level of building as standard practice years ago and it quickly became one of the cornerstones of our business.
That said, we were thrilled to read the findings of a recent McGraw Hill Construction report titled “Green Multifamily and Single Family Homes: Growth in a Recovering Market.” The analysis this 64-page report—which examined U.S. home builders’ adoption of green building practices in conjunction with consumer demand on a national level—can broadly be summarized by saying this: Green home building is becoming more and more important among builders and consumers alike.
Take a look at some of the takeaways from the report:
- 62% of single-family home builders report that they are doing more than 15% of their projects green. By 2018, that percentage is set to increase to 84%.
- Today, 19% of single-family home builders are dedicated to doing the majority (at least 90%) of their projects green. By 2018, it is expected that this number will double to 38%.
- Home builders and remodelers are realizing a resurgent demand from consumers for green home building. Specifically, 73%—up from 61% in 2011-2012—of single-family homebuilders report that consumers will pay more for green homes.
- It is anticipated that that by 2016, the green single-family housing market alone will represent 26%-33% of the total market due to greater consumer interest.
Renewables on the Rise
Because LifeStyle Homes is committed to clean energy (namely solar power), we also found the report’s findings of anticipated growth in the renewable-energy sector extremely encouraging.
Since we built our first solar-powered zero-energy home in 2010, LifeStyle Homes immediately became gripped by the potential of solar power to transform the home building industry. And according to the report, other home builders are also starting to embrace this idea as well.
More specifically, the report finds that the incorporation of renewable energies in building projects is projected grow rapidly in the next three years. The percentage of building firms (single and multi-family) that expects to use renewable energies on all their projects is set to increase from 8% in 2013 to 20% in 2016, while those who do not expect to use renewable energies on any of their projects is set to decrease from 35% in 2013 to 21% in 2016.
So, why the revival in green home building? Well, according to the report, in addition to coinciding with recovering housing market, other triggers include: energy-cost increases, code and regulation changes, and the increases availability and affordability of green products and practices.
Whatever the reasons may be, LifeStyle Homes is happy to welcome other home builders into the green building arena. Not only does it mean better-built homes for Americans, but it also means improved homeowner health and decreased negative environmental impact—all truly important considerations for a sustainable future.
If you are interested in reading McGraw Hill’s entire report, it can be downloaded for free here.
