Jerry Yudelson Predicts Huge Growth for Green in '09I know what you're thinking. Who is Jerry Yudelson?
Jerry is a leading voice in green building. He's a green advocate, consultant and author. He's a guy with his finger on the pulse. His books are terrific resources (we have several at the office, and we bought them before Jerry included one of Sage's projects in his book "Choosing Green: The Home Buyers Guide to Good Green Homes" =) )
Here's the gist of what Jerry has posted on his blog (heavily edited for a quick read -- the original and full post is at http://www.greenbuildconsult.com/blog/green-building-to-rocket-in-2009-top-ten-trends/)...
1. Green building will continue to grow big time.
2. The Obama presidency will help.
3. The focus of green building will begin to switch from new buildings to greening existing buildings. (Ed. Note: Did we mention that Sage has a fast-growing renovation arm that launched in late '08?)
4. Water savings is going to be a bigger deal. (We agree, though St. Louis will be slow to catch on) 5. LEED Platinum-rated buildings will be more commonplace.
6. Solar power use in buildings will accelerate with the extension of solar energy tax credits. (Yes, yes, and more yes. This is one of the reasons that Sage is recommending to our clients that they opt for at least a solar ready package in '09).
7. Local governments will increasingly mandate green buildings from both themselves and the private sector.
8. Zero net energy designs for new buildings will gain increasing acceptance in both public and private buildings. ("Zero net energy" piqued your interest? You know we're always looking for investors to back our next demonstration home...)
*** 9. Green homes will come to dominate new home developments in more sections of the U.S., as builders increasingly see green as a source of competitive advantage. ***
10. The US will begin to rip-off European green building technologies (they're way ahead of us -- for now)
