While green home construction is expected to increase between 29% and 38% of the market by 2016, green home remodeling is expected to rise 150% over 2011 activity levels, according to a recent Green Home Builders and Remodelers Study by McGraw-Hill Construction. In it, 22% of remodelers report that they anticipate they will be dedicated to green work in 2016, nearly triple the 8% who report being dedicated to green work in 2011.
Many factors are driving the green homes’ market, the study says, but “higher quality” and “increases in energy costs” top the list, indicating that home buyers and homeowners recognize that green homes have lower energy bills due to higher building performance.
The reported costs of building a green home also have gone down significantly. Builder respondents report that the cost difference to go green is now 7%, as compared to 10% in 2008 and 11% in 2006.
Business benefits do exist with green building, such as a competitive marketing advantage, the study says: 46% of builders and remodelers find that building green makes it easier to market themselves in a down economy, and an overwhelming 71% of firms that are dedicated to green home building report the same.
While green is growing across the country, three regions are seeing higher than average growth. The West Coast has seen the highest green growth; the Midwest’s northern region, west of the Mississippi, is second highest; and New England ranks third.
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