SRI Consulting Publishes Green Building Materials Report

The rising popularity of green buildings suggests a trend towards more environmentally friendly materials being used in conventional building techniques and construction methods. Decreased costs and the growing availability of these materials are helping to promote market competition among traditional building materials and the newer, green materials.

Bob Davenport, Director of SRIC’s Safe & Sustainable Chemicals series commented, “Green building requires all those involved in the different aspects of the building process to be in constant dialogue with each other, from the planning stages through implementation and all the way through to installation and final usage.” Mr Davenport continued, “This process can result not only in net savings, but also in a net benefit to the environment through innovative building techniques and products.”

SRIC’s Green Building Materials focuses on several areas for growth in the green building market. These areas include; support structures; engineered wood and lumber; wall systems; lighting; insulation; and energy/utilities. The report also examines the feasibility of green building technologies for today’s building standards in terms of current usage and availability.

T. Adrian Gaitan, SRIC Consultant and lead author of the report says, “The market for green buildings has continued to grow for several years globally, especially in China and the United States, where there is a high rate of building construction. As of January 2007, over 400 separate projects were pending approval by the U.S. Green Building Council under its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.” Mr Gaitan continued, “The trend has not only applied to commercial buildings, but also residential buildings. Building owners are just starting to become more conscious of how their buildings affect the environment, and homeowners have begun to apply the practices of their employers to their own homes.”

The report discusses chemical opportunities as they relate to green building materials. Current technology allows for seamless integration of these new green buildings with existing neighboring buildings without any significant differences (unless aesthetics are an issue). In addition, existing structures can be renovated to meet green building standards without completely gutting the original structure.