In the United States alone, the market for green construction is expected to hit $20 billion from $10 billion in 2005, according to McGraw-Hill Construction.
Green Building Scores $50M
on 05 November 2007, 10:18
by Justin Moresco
America’s “green” trend is spreading beyond tofu-eating neo-hippies out to save the world in their hybrid cars. It’s now become firmly planted in one of the oldest and most conservative industries in the country—construction.
New building owners increasingly ask architects to design buildings that use water, electricity, and materials more efficiently and do less damage to the environment. In the United States alone, the market for green construction is expected to hit $20 billion from $10 billion in 2005, according to McGraw-Hill Construction.
Building materials manufacturers have taken note as have VCs. That helps explain why so-called green building technology company Serious Materials on Thursday said it closed $50 million in a second round of funding from New Enterprise Associates, Foundation Capital, and Rustic Canyon.
Sunnyvale, California-based Serious Materials plans to use the investment toward new manufacturing plants. It has two new products in the pipeline—eco-friendly drywall and high-insulating windows—that it plans to sell next year.
"Those who successfully re-engineer the products and processes that are the most harmful to the climate will be among the leaders of the next industrial revolution," Forest Baskett, General Partner at NEA, said in a statement.
Environmental awareness will continue to drive interest in sustainable building projects, according to Jeffry Taylor, chief economist with Associated Builders and Contractors, a U.S. construction industry business association,
Drywall is used widely in the construction industry as a finishing material on walls and ceilings. Serious Materials CEO Kevin Surace said the company’s high-insulating windows, called ThermaProof, give a 300 percent insulation improvement over standard dual-pane windows. That could translate into a 30 percent reduction in an average heating bill for a single-family home, he said.
Mr. Surace said Serious Materials could eventually capture 10 to 20 percent of the U.S. market for drywall in green buildings. The company is targeting owners who want their buildings to be “LEED” certified, a rating system developed in 2000 by the U.S. Green Building Council. A building is certified under the system if it satisfies enough criteria, which includes the materials and resources used in construction.
Still, higher short-term costs and a lack of widespread education about green building among developers and building professionals remain deterrents for the growth of the industry, according to the McGraw-Hill report.
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