Earth Advantage Institute Report Shows Green Building Trends for 2010-


Leading nonprofit green building resource, Earth Advantage Institute, has announced its choice selections for top ten green building trends in 2010. The trends vary from energy scores for homes to web-based displays which track real-time energy consumption, and were acknowledged by the Institute based on dealings with builders, architects, real estate brokers, lenders, appraisers and homeowners throughout 2009. Sean Penrith, Earth Advantage Institute’s executive director, states, “While we know the building industry had a rough year in 2009, not all of the industry has been in the doldrums… Green building has been a bright spot in an otherwise lackluster year, and Northwest design and building communities have been at the forefront.” The first revealed on the list is the smart grid and connected home, which will work to conserve energy and increase home value – especially as grid capabilities begin to increase in the future. The second is energy labeling for homes and office buildings to help encourage property owners to make needed energy improvements while adding worth to their building.

The third trend anticipates a surge in open lending for green construction projects. Seeing that operating costs are much lower than a traditional home, the financial services community is beginning to view green homes and buildings as more fiscally viable and are working to get new reduced-rate loan programs, and insurance packages into place. Another trend is building information modeling (BIM) software, considering that CAD software for building design has spawned fresh add-on tools with progressively accurate (and gradually more affordable) algorithms for energy. A fifth trend is the “rightsizing” of homes, as a bigger home no longer means greater equity. Eco-districts are the sixth trend, with many cities encouraging the creation of green communities in which residents have access to most services and supplies within walking or biking distance. The seventh trend is water conservation, as the precious life source is becoming endangered more so every day. The EPA has recently finalized the voluntary WaterSense specification for new homes in December 2009, which will reduce water consumption by 20 percent compared to a traditional new home. The eighth trend is net zero buildings, in which the home or building creates more energy than it uses. The Architecture 2030 plan is set to implement ‘net-zero’ as the objective for all new buildings by 2030. Carbon calculation is the ninth trend, which will work to document, measure and reduce greenhouse gas creation in building materials and processes. Lastly is sustainable building education to aid designers and builders, as well as other building industry professionals such as real estate agents, financiers and insurance agents. A lengthened form of this article is available by visiting www.earthadvantage.org.