Green Building Blooms in the Housing and Construction Industry

This weekend marked the 48th anniversary of Earth Day. On April 22, 1970, millions of Americans came together to fight for a clean, sustainable environment and that fight still continues today. Consumer-awareness has increased over the years, and so has the demand for Earth-friendly products and procedures. According to the NAHB, and in conjunction with a series of studies conducted by Dodge Data & Analytics, “at least one-third of surveyed single-family and multifamily builders said that green building is a significant portion of their overall activity. And by 2022, this number should increase to nearly one-half in both sectors.”

You, as a builder, can have a big impact from the get-go; essentially starting with a clean slate for every home you build. How can you contribute to the home’s carbon footprint? Simply look around a typical house. There are opportunities everywhere to make improvements or conserve. Do you incorporate environmentally-friendly features such as water saving faucets and toilets, low VOC paints and adhesives, and energy-efficient appliances and systems? Not only is saving money for the long haul important to buyers, but the way the home itself impacts the future (and present) environment is also significant.

House hunters today have a lot of choices when it comes to choosing a builder. Will you measure up? Do you have special certifications such as LEED or Energy-Star? Have you won awards for your ecological principals? If green building is in your wheelhouse, then show off — highlight these practices on your website, social media, on promotional materials, and by word of mouth! Those are exactly the types of things that consumers today are attracted to.

More and more builders are joining the green home movement with sensitivity to nature preservation and homeowner requests. Slowly but surely, eco-friendly elements are becoming the ‘standard’. If you haven’t done so already, incorporating just a few of these building practices will be beneficial for your business. With this buying preference in mind, there is much opportunity and value in this market. Prospects will certainly do their research when planning for their dream home and you may just win them over when Mother Nature is in your corner.