Sustainable Building and Materials Grow to Billion Dollar Industry
August 16, 2013Sustainable Building
In recent years, building green and using sustainable building products has become an incredibly profitable business. Now more than ever, people remodeling their homes and businesses are changing their facilities to incorporate sustainable materials and building practices.
The trend towards green technology and funding has become a major moneymaker. As a contractor, I’ve seen that the growth of this industry is continuously on the rise. The green industry is currently at $116 billion a year, and it’s projected to grow up to $254 billion or more by 2020. To reach this goal, businesses and homeowners have to be intentional in changing their habits and focusing on “going green” as part of their daily routine.
The Three R’s
The three R’s are reduce, reuse and recycle. You will find that they can pertain to almost everything in your home or office:
- Reduce. You can reduce the amount of harmful chemicals that you use to clean.
- Reuse. You can reuse plastic containers, paper products, and old furniture.
- Recycle. You can recycle almost anything.
There are a variety of businesses that are going above and beyond to incorporate the three R’s into their business model. For example, the ARIA hotel in Las Vegas built a large sorting center where waste is sorted and sent to recycling facilities. This alone has diverted 47% of the hotel’s waste. In addition, they send food scraps to local farms to feed animals like pigs.
Recycling is probably the most popular way that people have contributed to the “go green” movement, but landfills are still growing bigger. It’s imperative to reach out to neighbors, family members, businesses and others in the community to educate about the green movement.
Upcycling
One effective way to practice sustainability is by repurposing old furniture through a process of “upcycling”. By doing this, you’re eliminating the amount of waste you’re producing by simply throwing things away. It’s essential to consider everything that you waste on a daily basis when changing over to a green style of living.
Water Waste
The Las Vegas Palazzo Hotel and Resort is a renowned destination. Recently, this hotel won an award for its eco-friendly practices. One of those practices included cutting down on water waste. The hotel uses a combination of drip irrigation systems and moisture sensors to only use a small amount of water. In addition, they replaced some outdoor areas with artificial turf grass to cut down on even more water waste. The hotel managed to save eight million gallons of water last year with these methods.
Drip irrigation systems are being used all over the world. As technology has become more streamlined, it’s easier to incorporate this method into watering lawns and gardens. Homeowners are also using gray water from showers, bathtubs, washers, and dishwashers to water landscapes and gardens.
Focusing on Sustainable Building
At McFall Builders, we’re constantly learning and innovating. We love the earth, and we want to do our part to keep it clean for generations to come. For more information on how McFall Builders is going green, give us a call today. We’d love to hear from you!