Early Involvement Improves Contractor Understanding of Green Priorities

These findings are important because they show that working on the early stages of projects helps contractors better recognize what is most important to owners.

While the results of this study focus only on greater awareness of green drivers, they suggest that contractors involved in predesign on all types of projects will gain a better understanding of what motivates owners. This awareness can help contractors better respond to owners' needs, which leads to improved client satisfaction and a greater likelihood of working with them again.

Benefits of Green Building

Similar to other green-building studies published by McGraw Hill Construction, the research on contractors doing green retail and hotel projects demonstrates that higher levels of green engagement lead to a better understanding of green benefits for clients and higher business returns for contractors themselves.

Owner Benefits

Two critical benefits owners report from their green buildings in these sectors are reduced annual operating costs and increased asset values. The study reveals that contractors also believe owners will see these benefits:

• Annual operating cost reductions of 10% or more compared to traditional buildings: For contractors highly engaged in green, 44%; for contractors with low engagement in green, 18%.

• Asset-value increases of 10% or more compared to traditional buildings: For contractors highly engaged in green, 35%; for contractors with low engagement in green, 18%.

It is important to note that the findings in the owner study closely correspond to the findings of highly engaged green contractors:

• Annual operating cost reductions of 10% or more compared to traditional buildings: For retail owners, 44%; for hotel owners, 46%.

• Asset-value increases of 10% or more compared to traditional buildings: For retail owners, 35%; for hotel owners, 50%.

This correlation shows contractors that are more highly engaged in green building better understand the benefits their clients get from green projects than contractors with less green involvement.

Donna Laquidara-Carr, Ph.D., LEED AP, is industry insights research director for Dodge Data & Analytics and serves as managing editor on the SmartMarket Reports.

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