• Overview
• Why Go Green
• More Facts
• Case Study

These factors are expediting the growth of green building:

• Unprecedented level of government initiatives
• Heightened residential demand for green construction
• Improvements in sustainable materials.

- Source: FMI (2008). U.S. Construction Overview.

• Buildings represent 38.9% of U.S. primary energy use (includes fuel input for production)
  - Source: Environmental Information Administration (2008). EIA Annual Energy Outlook.
• Buildings are one of the heaviest consumers of natural resources and account for a significant portion of the greenhouse gas emissions that affect climate change. In the U.S., buildings account for 38% of all CO₂ emissions.
  - Source: Energy Information Administration (2008). Assumptions to the Annual Energy Outlook

• Buildings represent 72% of U.S consumption.
  - Source: Environmental Information Administration (2008). EIA Annual Energy Outlook.

• Buildings use 13.6% of all potable water, or 15 trillion gallons per year.
  - Source: U.S. Geological Survey (2000). 2000 data.

• The EPA estimates that 136 million tons of building-related construction and demolition (C&D) debris was generated in the U.S. in a single year.
  - Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1997). U.S. EPA Characterization of Building-Related Construction and Demolition Debris in the United States.
• Compare that to 209.7 million tons of municipal solid waste generated in the same year.
  - Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1997). Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the United States. Report No. EPA 530/R-98-007.