Given the growth of green expected in the retail and hotel sectors, this improved understanding provides a competitive advantage to firms that already have committed to green. They can better target the needs of clients in these sectors.

Contractor Benefits

More evidence of the competitive advantage for contractors that do a high percentage of green work can be found in the direct benefits they experience from work on green retail, restaurant and hotel projects.

• Almost double the percentage of contractors moderately to highly engaged in green report gaining new clients and keeping existing clients satisfied, compared with firms with lower green engagement.

• Nearly half (44%) of those highly engaged in green see positive impacts on their workers' health and well-being on green projects.

• Almost one quarter (24%) of contractors doing the most green work report seeing a 10% or more increase in their return-on-investment on those projects, significantly more than those that do less green work.

These findings demonstrate that contractors' greater experience with green projects enhances their ability to find and retain clients, improves productivity and directly increases profitability.

The benefits of green experience are particularly important for general contractors as the market for green building in the retail and hotel sectors continues to grow. As recently as 2011, less than a quarter of the owners in those sectors were doing a majority of their projects green, and contractors could afford to ignore green building in that aspect of their work.

Two years later, as the results of this green retail and hospitality study demonstrate, a majority of projects are green for a high percentage of owners. Green building must become part of a contractor's strategy to gain a competitive advantage in these sectors within the next two years.

For more information on the market for green retail and hospitality, the benefits achieved, and the triggers, drivers and obstacles for building green in these sectors, the "Green Retail and Hospitality: Capitalizing on the Growth in Green Building Investments SmartMarket Report" is available for free download at www.construction.com/market_research.