After posting an impressive compound annual growth rate
(CAGR) of 23% through 2006, the market for green, or environmentally
friendly, building materials is expected to continue growing from
almost $2.2 billion in 2006 to $4.7 billion in 2011, although at a
slightly slower rate of 17%, according to Green Building Materials in
the U.S., a new report from market research publisher SBI.
For a growing percentage of building buyers, occupants, and
do-it-yourselfers, issues such as energy efficiency, indoor air
quality, sustainability, and even more abstract measures of
environmental impact no longer represent minor components of the
decision process; they are now increasingly core preferences for homes
and buildings.
Although the public sector and commercial projects have
dominated green construction, residential green construction will
undoubtedly see a boom. Residential projects have different materials
profiles and imply different opportunities than those in the commercial
sector, particularly in their extensive use of wood. SBI projects that
green flooring, the slowest growing segment through 2006, will become
the market's fastest grower through 2011, earning a CAGR of 45%.
"There is a risk that the 'green washing' of
construction-related products and services will dilute the emerging
trend so much that it will lose its meaning and its impact on
sustainability and sound practices," notes Tatjana Meerman, Publisher
of SBI. "However, there is too much genuine opportunity in the industry
for stakeholders to just sit by and watch this exciting new trend be
eroded by paler shades of green construction. The industry will be
disciplined either internally or by consumers who will demand clarity."
Containing comprehensive data on lumber, siding, flooring,
insulation, and millwork, Green Building Materials in the U.S. focuses
on the "buy side" of the market by looking at demand among builders and
consumers and identifying current and anticipated market value, market
dynamics, and trends.