October 21, 2005—According to a new study by PinnacleOne, one of the nation’s leading construction consulting firms, a majority (60%) of public owners in the US have implemented construction projects with energy efficiency designs in the past year. Yet, less than a third (29%) of the owners currently use or plan to use LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building standards in the coming year. Surprisingly, almost half (49%) of the study participants were unfamiliar with the standards.
These are just a few of the findings in The 2005 PinnacleOne Pulse of U.S. Public Construction survey, which examined the opinions of 167 public owners involved in construction projects throughout the United States.
Some of the major energy related findings:
- Almost three-quarters (73%) of the education sector has implemented energy efficient designs in the past year and thirty-nine percent of this sector either currently uses LEED green building standards or is planning to use them on projects in the coming year.
- Public owners in the western region of the country are leaders in the pursuit of energy efficiency. Eighty percent of these owners (versus 60% of owners overall) have implemented energy efficiency designs in the past year. At the other end of the spectrum, less than half (45%) of owners in the Northeast say they implemented such designs.
- Lack of Demand for LEED. Among the majority (51%) of owners who were familiar with LEED standards, almost half (44%) had no plans to use them. Of those owners with no plans to implement green building standards, almost two-thirds (65%) cited a lack of demand for these improvements and another quarter (26%) didn’t believe the LEED standards were worth the increased cost.
The 2005 PinnacleOne Pulse of US Public Construction study was a national telephone survey conducted by Market Measurement, Inc., an independent market research consulting firm, that examined the attitudes of public owners on construction issues related to project management, energy/environment and claim resolution. The survey was conducted in August of this year. For more information, visit the PinnacleOne Web site.
