Evolving, exciting, challenging, provocative, revolutionary, mainstream – all are adjectives that could well describe 2015 and the beginning of a critical era for the progression of green building in the United States.
There are a number of potentially game changing events outside of the building industry currently unfolding that may significantly impact the tenor and vitality of the sustainable movement and, therefore, the green building industry.
As we prepare for a Presidential election in 2016, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will disseminate their fifth assessment report indicating we have reached “a point of no return” regarding climate change; the United Nations is urging new austerity measures for emissions; Pope Francis is preparing to release his encyclical on the environment and global warming calling for action and Senator James Imhofe, a self-proclaimed global climate change denier, is serving as head of the Environment and Public Works Committee. With all of this on the horizon, we may see a significant shift in the way we talk about sustainability and green building on many fronts.
It is hard to predict how the continued polarization of views on these issues will impact the green building industry. All indications are that sustainability will be a tsunami impacting all aspects of the built environment and beyond. Throughout the next several years, sustainability will undergo a rapid transformation – and we’ll be along for the ride.
To learn more about our sustainable work, visit our Sustainability page.