A different framework

Sustainability is more than what gets built…it’s how things are built

Skanska USA expresses its corporate commitment to the triple bottom line through its Sustainability Agenda. The following is the first of a five-part series exploring how Skanska is approaching the triple bottom line for the good of its clients, its respective businesses and for the good of the places we live, play and work.

According to McGraw-Hill’s research, the market for green building in 2012 could end up tallying more than $85 billion. By 2016, they forecast that it will potentially increase to nearly $250 billion. That is tremendous growth, but it will put the focus more and more on the methods owners and contractors use to achieve the savings green building can enable.

It’s an exciting time for green building. In order to be successful, though, we must collaborate with our clients to identify appropriate mid- and long-term solutions to ensure their buildings operate efficiently. Our resolve to help our clients achieve higher energy and environmental performance is more important now than ever as energy prices climb higher and CO2 emissions begin to become commoditized. Owners can control what they build today; they cannot control the price of energy tomorrow. Buildings have long life spans, so the decisions made today have a lasting impact. Owners can feel empowered that today’s green buildings incorporate a decade of lessons learned, providing demonstrable evidence that companies can save money and lower their use of energy and water in significant ways if they are designed and operated thoughtfully.

[source: http://sustainableindustries.com/articles/2013/02/different-framework]