US Green Building Industry Exploding

According to a new report from the U.S. Green Building Council and Booz Allen Hamilton, while the green building industry added $173 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product from 2000-08, that amount will more than triple between 2009 to 2013 to $554 billion.

The return on energy savings is not near as great as the overall economic impact. From 2009-13, green buildings should help reduce energy use by about $6 billion, compared to $1.3 billion from 2000-08, according to the report, “Green building, green jobs and the economy.” (PDF).

When it comes to LEED-specific construction, about $830 million was contributed to the GDP from 2000-08. From 2009-13, the figure jumps to $12.5 billion.

Over that span, the green building sector should create about 7.9 million jobs, compared to 2.4 million from 2000-08, according to the report.Those figures include jobs created directly, indirectly and by induction.

Photo Credit: Stella Blu/WikiCommons

Source: USGBC