Certified Green Building Area to Increase 780% in Ten Years, Says Study

Worldwide, the square footage of certified green building space will increase 780%, from approximately 6 billion square feet (560 million m²) in 2010 to 53 billion square feet in 2020, predicts a new report from Pike Research. Most of this space—80%—will be commercial and will be certified under LEED in the U.S. or BREEAM in Europe; programs in China and India, however, will be responsible for 30% of new certifications. The report notes, “In many markets, such as Class A office space, green building certification is the standard rather than the exception.” The demand for certified commercial buildings will only grow, says the report, as “many corporations and government agencies are beginning to establish policies that they will only own and occupy spaces that have received green building certification.” Approximately 60% of currently certified commercial space worldwide is in existing buildings, but both that sector and certified new construction will continue to grow. In the residential sector, the vast majority of certified buildings are new construction; this will remain the case over the next ten years.