Reduce Costs, Save Energy, Building Green: LEEDing the Way

Commercial and residential buildings use 65.2% of total U.S. electricity and over 36% of total U.S. primary energy. Buildings use 40% of the raw materials globally and 12% of the potable water in the United States. Building activity in the U.S. also contributes over 136 million tons of construction and demolition waste (2.8 lbs/person/day), and 30% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

The innovations in engineering and design that concentrate on sustainability in buildings have transformed the building industry in the past decade. Google "green building" and sift through the 1,200,000 hits ranging from the greening of the Pentagon to the 71-story, “net”-zero-energy skyscraper in Guangzhou, China.

This year the U.S. Green Building Council aims to certify 10,000 new buildings with it's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certificate with Starbucks, Best Buy and Target "leeding" the way. Most recently, skyscrapers have been erected with sustainability their first priority.