Burgeoning green building materials market set to reach $255B by 2020

Dive Brief:

The global green building materials market is on pace to hit $255 billion by 2020, growing at an annual CAGR of approximately 12%, according to a report from Zion Research.
Zion found the green materials market was valued at $127.5 billion in 2014, with the public facilities, education, commercial and industrial sectors dominating market demand. Public facilities alone represented more than 20% of the total green building materials market in 2014.
North America and Europe are the two global regions seeing the strongest growth in demand for green building products. In 2014, North America accounted for more than 40% of the total green building materials market, according to the report.

Dive Insight:

The report noted that the strong rate of growth for the global green buildings market has been largely driven by greater attention to environmental issues, as well as government regulations requiring more sustainable construction. High-profile building standards such as LEED and the ICC National Green Building Standard have also helped the market grow.

One major factor behind the projected spike in green building is likely the U.S. Green Building Council's December announcement that it plans to add more than 5 billion square feet of green buildings over the next five years through its LEED and EDGE green building rating systems. The USGBC said it was prompted to ramp up green development due to the fact that buildings account for one-third of global emissions, and green buildings are cost-effective solutions to climate change.

The construction industry has been experiencing a measurable change in mindset regarding green building and sustainability. According to Dodge Data & Analytics' World Green Building Trends 2016 report, green building is doubling every three years. And a September 2015 U.S. Green Building Council study found the green building industry will account for more than one-third of jobs in the nation's construction industry — 3.3 million — and $190.3 billion worth of labor earnings by 2018.

Although commercial construction has typically led the pack in green adoption, the residential sector is starting to catch up with increased buyer demand. A 2015 Dodge Data & Analytics survey found builders expect to be completing significantly more green work in the coming years, as more than half of respondents expect to do more than 60% green projects by 2020.