Need for LEED Certification Boosts New Construction Projects
Posted:
Monday, January 16th, 2012
Category:
Real Estate License
LEED-certified existing buildings are getting built faster than LEED-certified new construction, reported the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in the first week of December 2011. USGBC, which developed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in 2000, estimated that the difference in total sq. ft. between the two types of green construction has now reached 15 million sq. ft.
The report is news to many, including real estate professionals and those pursuing their real estate licenses—from agents taking up Minnesota real estate CE to agents working through their New York real estate CE. For the longest time after being green became more than an inconvenient afterthought for builders and real estate agents, the bulk of LEED-certified green projects was new construction projects. By 2009, however, projects certified under the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operation & Maintenance program overtook projects certified under new construction on an annual basis. The trend repeated in 2010 and 2011.
The benefits of being green for both existing and new buildings has become clear to designers and building managers. The recently renovated and LEED-certified Empire State Building, for instance, expects to slash its energy consumption by 38 percent, saving it some $4.4 million annually, an amount that will allow the building owners to recoup the renovation costs in just three years. Similarly, San Francisco’s 39-year-old Transamerica Pyramid after being certified LEED Platinum as an existing building, anticipates an annual saving of $700,000 in energy costs.
Agentcampus.com, a leading real estate CE provider, is providing all the necessary real estate courses and real estate continuing education that an agent needs to take advantage of an industry that is increasingly going green.
