Over and Under Estimates of Building

CABA's Intelligent & Integrated Buildings Council (IIBC), along with  Frost & Sullivan are working on a new marketing positioning research study called "Convergence of Green and Intelligent Buildings"

What's interesting is some of the statistics they quote, for example:

 In the U.S., buildings account for -

  • 45% of total energy use
  • 25% of water consumption
  • 70% of electricity consumption
  • 38% of total CO2 emission

Now these and other statistics are often quoted in the press, but one of the most interesting points made was:

"The environmental impact of buildings is often underestimated, while the perceived costs of building green or intelligent are overestimated - by as much as 300%"

Who's inflating this perceived (or real) costs?

Hopefully this study will lead to some answers, and we can better understand how to measure both the underestimated impact and the overestimated costs.