Obama Calls for Greener Homes and Businesses

March 13, 2013 - In his February State of the Union address, President Obama called the nation to green action, saying, “Let’s cut in half the energy wasted by our homes and businesses over the next 20 years.”

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) said, "By transforming our buildings, we not only help protect our planet, but we help strengthen the American economy. A green building agenda is the most cost effective way to save energy, save people and our businesses money, and create jobs. We know already that the green building industry is driving more than half a trillion dollars in economic activity."

"The President’s call to action mirrors USGBC’s mission of market transformation. We know we’re losing $130 billion a year from inefficient, leaky buildings. That’s a huge economic stimulus that we could be seizing every single year."

Obama also pledged federal support for "those states with the best ideas to create jobs and lower energy bills by constructing more efficient buildings." Examples of such state programs are included in the USGBC article. 

Federal agencies have also been leading by example, USGBC said, with the GSA and several branches of the military have been building LEED-certified spaces, reducing their energy usage by 25%.

“The business case for building green has already been proven,” said Jim Allen, the CEO of the Sloan Valve Company, at a Congressional briefing last week showcasing how businesses benefit from green building. 

Allen and others from varying positions in the building industry addressed Congress last week about the economic benefits of efficient, high-performing buildings, and about how green building is helping to improve their business wellbeing.

Greentech Media referenced a high-level commission's report just prior to SOTU outlining how the U.S. could double energy productivity by 2030.

In 2011, President Obama launched a $4 billion green building initiative aiming to increase energy efficiency by a minimum of 20% by 2020. The initiative encompasses 1.6 billion square feet of office, industrial, municipal, hospital, university, community college and school buildings.

Sustainablebusiness.com said, "The program is estimated to save $40 billion a year in energy costs, and create 50,000 jobs in the hard-hit construction industry, a figure that could be increased by 114,000 through other components of the Better Buildings Initiative, according to a recent analysis released by The Real Estate Roundtable, the U.S. Green Building Council and the Natural Resources Defense Council."  

"Upgrading the energy efficiency of America's buildings is one of the fastest, easiest and cheapest ways to save money, cut down on harmful pollution, and create good jobs right now," Obama said at the time. 

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