Entrepreneur Lin Merage is passionate about women’s issues and the environment. A sustainability advocate, Lin Merage champions the increased adoption of green building practices in the US commercial construction industry.
The US commercial construction industry is increasingly adopting green building practices, according to CBRE's Green Building Adoption Index, an index that annually tracks the growth of LEED and Energy Star Certified buildings in the 30 largest office and multifamily markets in the country. Research around the index is conducted in association with Maastricht University and the University of Guelph.
In 2019, the index revealed that green building practices were rising in the multifamily construction sector, with 251,763 units out of a total of 7.7 million investment-grade properties (3.3 percent) having received green certification. The top markets were Denver, Washington, D.C., and Seattle, where 7 percent, 6.9 percent, and 6.5 percent of units were green certified, respectively.
Adoption was also significant in the office construction sector. The index showed that 4,879 of all commercial office buildings (42.2 percent of total square footage) in the top 30 markets were green certified. The top markets where total square footage was green-certified were Chicago (71.1 percent), San Francisco (67.5 percent), and Atlanta (59.3 percent).