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The necessity for water efﬁcient practices will become far more apparent as water and energy prices continue to ﬂuctuate, as more attention and focus is placed on the mitigation of climate-related impacts and as water scarcity issues continue to plague certain parts of the U.S. and globe. Right now, the building owner already understands the beneﬁts responsible watersaving practices offer. As such, we expect owners to continue to drive this market. The Future of Green Building As the Obama Administration is already proving, a renewed emphasis on green building is the focus of many federal efforts. Already the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ofﬁce of Energy Efﬁciency and Renewable Energy has $16.8 billion stimulus dollars to spend on reductions, including $300 million for clean city grants and weatherization projects for homes. This activity at the federal level, coupled with the already active state and local government efforts, will continue to help transform standard design and construction practice toward green. As a result, industry players already working in green building will have a market advantage. G W H Green Works Houston Global pressures will also play a role—in particular heading into the global negotiations around climate control commitments taking place at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark in December. Because buildings use 40% of all U.S. energy (the largest single user) and emit 39% of all CO2 emissions, regulation on buildings is likely to play a major role in implementing any reduction plan the U.S. sets forth. Further, emerging markets and other countries are also likely to look at their buildings as an area for achieving some of their emission reduction targets. As such, there will be an expansion of the market for products and services that can help them achieve these targets. This will help encourage and foster the implementation and development of cleaner construction practices and greener building products, which will in turn support the growing expansion of green building in the U.S. More speciﬁc information on the future market projections on green building can be found in the McGraw-Hill Construction Green Outlook Report or in MHC’s new Water Use in Buildings SmartMarket Report. Michele A. Russo, LEED AP, McGraw-Hill Construction

Houston_Green_10.23.09

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