The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released a 2015 Green Building Economic Impact Study in September that shows buildings are increasingly earning Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification and that they are still using massive amounts of energy.


The green-construction industry expanded 15-fold in the past decade and is growing quickly, according to nonprofit news outlet Mother Jones. Green construction generated $167 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) and supported more than 2.1 million jobs from 2011 to 2014, according to the study. Green construction also is expected to generate an additional $303 billion in GDP and 3.9 million jobs from 2015 to 2018.


In 2014, about $129 billion was spent on green-building construction, including LEED-certified buildings and those that met equivalent environmental standards, according to the study. This is a small portion of the total construction costs in 2014, which was $962 billion. This upward trend of green construction is promising but still lagging behind.


According to Mother Jones, energy used for heating, cooling and lighting buildings cause about 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. LEED standards work to prevent these emissions from the beginning design stage of choosing lamps and creating energy- and water-efficiency plans.


LEED certification does not necessarily equal climate-friendly, Craig Schwitter, associate professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation told Mother Jones. He cited Manhattan’s Bank of America tower, which became the first LEED Platinum skyscraper in 2010. A few years later, the building was one of the worst offenders in the city’s inventory of greenhouse gas emissions. 


Using energy efficiently isn’t the same as using less energy, Schwitter said. Buildings can meet LEED and other green credentials and still use massive amounts of power and have a huge carbon footprint.


“Green building is playing a massive role in the U.S. construction sector, the clean and efficient energy sector and the U.S. economy as a whole,” said Rick Fedrizzi, CEO of USGBC. “Demand for green building will only continue to grow.”


Over the next four years, LEED construction is expected to provide the equivalent energy benefits of avoiding annual greenhouse gas emissions from 1.8 million passenger cars or the CO2 emissions of 960 million gallons of gasoline, according to the report.