Buildings are the nation’s worst culprits when it comes to energy consumption. In fact, buildings in the U.S. alone account for 9.5% of the world’s total energy consumption. That’s more than three times the annual energy use of the entire African continent!

And at 2.5 billion tons, these buildings also account for 38% of the nation’s CO₂ emissions--more than the industrial and transportation sectors.

Of course, these days, faced with climate change and a very real energy crisis, the world is doing more than just talking about increasing renewable energy use and improving energy efficiency. Thanks to increasing Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), we’ve seen a surge in electricity production from sources like solar, wind, and geothermal.

We’re also starting to produce alternative transportation fuels in ever higher amounts. Annual world production of biofuels may even break 20 billion gallons this year. But even with all these advances, renewables still only account for about 1% of the world’s total primary energy production.

And one thing remains stunningly clear if we’re ever to wean ourselves off of oil’s greasy teat: our use of energy has to be much, much more efficient--on a grand scale.

You see, the fire of energy efficiency has been smoldering for some time--showing most of its adolescent flames in the auto industry. But new movements and advances in the building industry could be the kindling and fresh air this fire’s been awaiting for quite some time.

Fuel for the Green Building Fire

On average, a green building uses 33% less energy than a conventional building. So full integration of green buildings across the U.S. would immediately reduce annual energy consumption by 13.2 quadrillion Btus--the equivalent of India’s annual energy usage.

Plus, the return on investment for green buildings can be as much as 20:1, with only a 3% premium on initial construction, making it green in more ways than one. With such great advantages staring us in the face, it’s hard to fathom why this technique is not yet the norm. But one agency is working to change that.

The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) was founded in 1993 and is the de facto authority on the subject. Since its inception, the USGBC has striven to promote the benefits of green building and has developed an industry-accepted rating system for green construction and remodeling.

In the last seven years their membership has increased 1,000% to over 91,000, illustrating the swelling momentum of the industry. They have registered over 775 million square feet of commercial building space as green, and have projects in all 50 states and 12 countries.

And the numbers are growing daily.

What this Means for You

There’s definitely a boatload of money to be made here. And at Green Chip, we’ve been capitalizing on this movement for quite some time.

You see, the construction industry comprises 14.2% of the $10 million U.S. GDP, making the potential green building market $1.42 billion--with plenty of investment opportunities, ranging from builders to materials to appliances.

Of course, it’s still a young industry. But it’s growing rapidly.

McGraw-Hill Construction projects that green building’s share of nonresidential construction will increase to up to 10% of new starts by 2010.

It’s also projected that more than 50 cities will adopt some form of green building ordinance or mandate in 2007. Fifteen states have already done so. Plus, an additional ten states are expected to implement incentive programs or mandates.

Quick math makes that 50% of the nation.

In the next few weeks, we at Green Chip are going to release our latest report chronicling the advantages and opportunities associated with green building.

So keep your eyes peeled for that.

Until then . . .

Nick