WASHINGTON — The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recently released its “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design [LEED] in Motion: Industrial Facilities” report, which highlights the collaborative efforts across the manufacturing sector to design and implement LEED practices and prioritize environmental stewardship for industrial facilities. Currently, there are more than 1,755 LEED-certified industrial facilities worldwide, totaling more than 496 million square feet encompassing 2,710 registered projects totaling nearly 737 million square feet. The report also showcases many of the most impressive LEED-certified industrial facilities in the world.
“The world’s manufacturing plants, industrial facilities, and product factories have become an important cornerstone for the global green building industry,” said Rick Fedrizzi, CEO and founding chair, USGBC. “The growing adoption of LEED in this sector gives corporations another tool to achieve high-performing business operations and positively impact worker health, reduce water and energy use, and increase cost savings, all at the same time. The companies that are using LEED for these facilities are raising the bar for the kind of leadership that will deliver the world we want for our children and communities.”
Industrial facilities, which include manufacturing buildings, warehouses, distribution centers, and industrial campuses, operate on a vastly larger scale than homes, office buildings, or even university campuses. The manufacturing sector is responsible for 30 percent of the nation’s total energy consumption and uses an estimated 15,900 million gallons of water daily, which is roughly 4 percent of total daily water use. Through LEED certification, industrial facilities are more resource-efficient and boast greater performance, which translates to increased asset value and millions of dollars in savings for owners and operators.
The manufacturing sector, which impacts every aspect of daily life, is essential to the global marketplace and is a significant economic driver worldwide. In the U.S. alone, the manufacturing industry contributed $2.1 trillion in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014, and, according to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), for every $1 spent in manufacturing, an additional $1.40 is added to the economy. The sector also provides 12.33 million jobs and indirectly supports an additional 18.5 million jobs. USGBC’s recent Green Building Economic Impact Study found that, across industries, green construction jobs are poised to create more than 3.3 million U.S. jobs and $190.3 billion in labor earnings by 2018. To view the full report, visit http://readymag.com/usgbc/industrial.
Publication date: 7/11/2016
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