The Insiders guide to marketing green building

Book Review : an Insider 's Guide to Marketing Green Buildings by Jerry Yudelson

Chapter 1 : Introduction

Green buildings have grown both in importance and scope . With issues of sustainability and environmental protection gaining more prominence , the value of LEED registered registrations have grown consistently from year to year since 2000

Such green buildings have net beneficial effects such as cost savings accruing from lower energy and water costs . Notwithstanding that , their uptake faces several barriers , key among them being their perceived high costs

As Yudelson (2004 ) points out , if

such barriers to the widespread adoption of sustainable design are to be overcome , developers and owners of green buildings must take an active role in marketing them . It is not just enough for them to come up with good products

Through this chapter , I learn that no matter how revolutionary or good a product is , an effort has to be made to market it if it is to meet with success . It is no longer about product orientation , it is about marketing orientation Chapter 2 : Today 's Green Building Market

Green buildings comprised approximately 2 of nonresidential construction starts in 2004 , valued at 3 .3 billion . LEED accounts for about 10 or more of the institutional market for new buildings but only 2 of the corporate market . For the private sector therefore , the clients can be classified as innovators while those in the public market can be termed as early adopters

Given the state of the market , independent cost and performance evaluations of green buildings are critical for building credibility and overcoming perceived barriers . If green building is to enter the mainstream of the "early majority " it must begin to take note of the problems of marketing new technology

This chapter is important because it gives an insight into the nature of the green building market and therefore helps set the foundation for much of the discussion that follows

Chapter 3 : Industry Growth to date

The current Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED ) system made its debut eight years ago , following pilot runs to test the system in 1998 and 1999 . At the close of the year 2000 , when the LEED system was introduced , new LEED registrations were only 45 , with 45 cumulative LEED registrations averaging 8 .4 million square feet , and no new LEED registrations or cumulative LEED certifications

In 2001 , new LEED registrations rose to 230 over just 45 a year earlier . Cumulative LEED registrations were 275 , averaging 51 million square feet . New LEED certifications rose from zero just a year before to stand at 5 in 2001

In 2002 , new LEED registrations would hit an all time high of 345 pushing cumulative registrations to a high of 620 . These registrations represented an improved average area of 80 million square feet . Over this year , LEED certifications would rise to 19 from just 5 a year earlier , and push cumulative certifications to 24

The high growth trajectory would continue in 2004 , with a projected 564 new registrations , representing an...