Sustainable Construction

The state of the construction industry

The construction industry sits between a rock and a hard place. The earth’s urbanizing, growing population is placing enormous demands on the construction sector: Since 2007, more than half of the world’s population has lived in cities; that figure is projected to rise to 60% by 2030.
To meet this surging human demand, global construction output is projected to grow by a staggering 2.5 trillion square feet by 2060. (For perspective, that’s like building one New York City each month for the next four decades.)
At the same time, concerns about climate change and dwindling natural resources place increasing pressure on construction firms to build green and reduce their environmental impact. By conservative estimates, the construction industry is responsible for more than 30% of the world’s natural-resource extraction and a quarter of the solid waste generated. (That number climbs past 50% when considering sand and aggregates used on building sites.) The built world is also one of the biggest contributors to global emissions: According to the World Green Building Council, the construction and operation of buildings accounts for 36% of global energy use and 39% of energy-related CO2 emissions.
This puts the construction industry in a difficult position: It will have to meet skyrocketing building needs as the world continues to deplete its resources and demand grows for high-performance (even net zero) green buildings.
Yet, there’s good news. Because the built environment plays such a major role in the health of the earth's environment, green-construction initiatives can significantly boost efforts to improve global sustainability.
For forward-thinking builders, these challenges become opportunities. It’s time to view sustainable construction practices as value enhancements rather than cost or time burdens—because when implemented in smart ways, those practices will benefit both the environment and the bottom line.

Meeting the need for sustainable construction—today and tomorrow

The learning curve will get easier, and outlying processes will become best practices as more stakeholders respond to the need for sustainable construction. “Communities around the world are starting to get it, so companies that are behaving responsibly have the advantage of more business,” Kibert says. “The younger people coming out of college—the people we want to hire to be leaders and managers of people—they want to be with a company they can be proud of because they are doing the right things, with sustainability and environmental protection as some of their core values.”