Canada’s green building market on the rise

The Canadian green building market is poised to see strong growth over the next three years, according to from the Canada Green Building Council and McGraw Hill Construction.

The report found companies investing in green buildings are seeing significant dividends on their investments:

• 82 per cent of green building owners and developers reported decreases in energy consumption compared to similar buildings.
• 68 per cent reported decreases in water consumption in their green buildings.
• The median reduction in operating costs over five years for green buildings was 17 per cent.
• The median payback for the investment in a new green building is eight years, which is consistent with U.S. and international data.

In addition to financial benefits, green building in Canada is becoming more popular for social reasons:

• 42 per cent said client demand and “doing the right thing” were the top triggers for future green building projects in Canada.
• 60 per cent consider the ability of green buildings to promote greater health and well being among occupants as the most important social reasons to build green.

Survey respondents also recognized that building green is key to creating high performance buildings:

• 62 per cent of the building owners, architects and contractors surveyed considered having a higher-quality building as an important benefit of green building.
• 73 per cent of the firms that use a green building rating system report that better performing buildings are an important benefit of using a rating system.