By the Numbers

Last updated: May 15, 2008

U.S. Green Building Council membership

15,300-plus member organizations, including corporations, governmental agencies, nonprofits and others from throughout the industry.
Nearly 100,000 actively engaged individuals.
Since 2000, USGBC’s membership has increased more than 25-fold.

LEED was originally created in 2000 for new commercial construction and expanded in 2004 to include commercial interiors/tenant improvements; existing buildings/operation and maintenance.
Rating systems for core & shell, homes and neighborhood development are currently pilot testing.
LEED for Homes pilot test concluded in spring 2007 phase and officially launched in fall 2007.
As of May 15, 2008, there are more than 10,000 homes across the U.S. registered for possible LEED certification; 667 homes have already received LEED certification.

Represents 20% of U.S. economy (Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National science and Technology Council: Construction Industry Statistics, 1995)
Comprises 12.7% of the $10 trillion U.S. GDP. Includes all commercial, residential, and industrial construction. (Source: 2003 U.S. DOE Buildings Energy Databook)

According to the 2007 McGraw-Hill SmartMarket Report on Attitudes & Preferences for Remodeling and Buying Green Homes, the value of the “true” green home market was $2 billion in 2005. Given forecasts of the housing market and other trends, green homes are expected to be worth $60 billion by 2010, making up 10% of the overall housing market.
More than 1.8 million residential buildings are built annually (2006 Annual Housing Starts Census Bureau)
In 2005 – number of single-family housing starts was 1.7 million and housing starts for multi-family units in 2005 was 352,500 for a total of 2,068,300 residential starts in 2005 (U.S. Census Bureau)
Renovation is one of the largest construction sectors: $275 billion in 2005 ( Dept. of Commerce)
The most important motivators for builders when considering building green homes are “doing the right thing” and “lowering lifecycle costs.” (McGraw-Hill Construction SmartMarket Residential report 2006).

Buildings account for nearly 40% of total U.S. energy consumption; residential buildings account for 54.6% of that total.
The residential sector is responsible for 21% of the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions.
LEED-certified homes are on average 30-50% more energy efficient that conventional non-green homes, based on case studies.
By 2010, residential energy use is expected to be 9% higher than today (Alliance to Save Energy).
The average household spends some $1,500 each year on energy bills. By choosing Energy Star-certified products, consumers can cut this by 30%, saving about $400 each year (Energy Star).
Energy cost increases are the No. 1 trigger cited by home builders when considering building green homes (McGraw-Hill Construction SmartMarket Residential report 2006).
Two-thirds of the lighting technology used in homes and offices dates to before 1960. (Philips Electronics NV, Via The Wall Street Journal)
This year, Americans will consume close to 4 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity and 143 billion gallons of gasoline. To heat our homes and businessess this winter, we will purchase $62 billion worth of natural gas and heating oil. ("Mr. Green," The New Yorker, 1/22/07)
Electronic devices in standby mode account for 10% of home energy use - up from 2% in 1980. (U.S. EPA, via Forbes.com)

Building occupants use 12.2% of the total water consumed in the U.S. per day, 74.4% of which is used for residential needs.

Building-related construction and demolition debris totals approximately 136 million tons per year, 43% of which is generated from residential sources. (Source: www.epa.gov/greenbuildings/stats/gbstats.pdf).

64 million homes, 83 percent of the privately owned housing units built before 1980, have lead-based paint somewhere in the building. Twelve million of these homes are occupied by families with children younger than 7. (National Survey of Lead-Based Paint in Housing. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1995)

By 2010, California's building energy efficiency standards will create 8,000 new jobs in the state, with a net economic benefit of $4 billion. (California Climate Change Center, UC Berkeley)
More than half a million U.S. families, 40% more than 2004, now live in ENERGY STAR-qualified homes and are saving about $110 million annually on their energy bills. (ENERGY STAR, Overview of 2005 Achievements)
Since 1975, energy efficiency investments have boosted the state's economy by 3% ($31 billion) more than if the investments had not been made - equivalent to a net savings of $1,000 per household. (RAND Corporation, from The Public Benefit of California's Investments in Energy Efficiency)
In 2000, the United States used 123 billion kilowatt-hours to supply water and treat wastewater, just under 4% of total electricity sales. (Environmental and Energy Study Institute)
The average new refrigerator used 1,278 kilowatt-hours per year in 1980. Today, there are full-size, automatic-defrost refrigerator freezers on the market that use less than 400 kilowatt-hours per year. (Steven Nadel, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy)
Average daily U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, per person: 122 pounds. Average worldwide: 24 pounds. Amount that could be emitted without raising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere: 9 pounds. (Sierra Magazine)