McGraw-Hill Construction and U.S. Green Building Council Renew Alliance to Advance Sustainable Design and Construction

Press Release

McGraw-Hill Construction and U.S. Green Building Council Renew Alliance to Advance Sustainable Design and Construction
January 3, 2012 - New York, NY

McGraw-Hill Construction and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) have renewed their alliance to share green building news and analysis through GreenSource Magazine and GreenSourceMag.com. Through this agreement, which began in 2006, GreenSource will continue to be distributed to 14,000 USGBC members. The two organizations will also work together to produce thought-leadership pieces about sustainable design and construction.

“We look forward to continuing our alliance with the USGBC, enabling us to work together for the benefit of the construction industry,” said Kate Cassino, VP of Product Development, McGraw-Hill Construction. “Our commitment to sustainable design and construction will remain evident in our products and services, as well as through GreenSource Magazine.”

“Our USGBC members have come to depend on the insightful and thoughtful content put forth through GreenSource Magazine,” said Judith Webb, SVP, Strategic Development, USGBC. “We have an exciting year ahead of us in the green building movement and look forward to continuing our collaboration with McGraw-Hill Construction to advance market transformation.”

A mainstay in the green building market since 2006, GreenSource Magazine and GreenSourceMag.com are produced by award-winning editors from McGraw-Hill Construction/Architectural Record with support from BuildingGreen, Inc. and USGBC. In the past 12 months, GreenSource has received a gold Eddie Award for its website, a silver Eddie for its Sept. 2010 issue, gold Ozzie for its redesign, and a bronze Ozzie for an illustration from FOLIO: Magazine; and a silver medal, a merit award, and five awards for commissioned illustrations from the Society of Publication Designers. GreenSource is a premier provider of green content and a leader in covering noteworthy trends and best practices in sustainable design. In 2011, architects, design professionals and LEED professionals took more than 65,000 continuing education tests for Green Building Certification Institute credit from GreenSource articles and interactive presentations in print and online.

McGraw-Hill Construction is committed to advancing the construction sustainability agenda through its magazines, research and analytics, and digital products. Its thought-leadership reports on green building this past year shed light on the rise of green jobs, green building ROI, and prefabrication and modularization.

For more information, visit http://greensource.construction.com, follow @GreenSourceMag on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.com/GreenSourceMag.

About McGraw-Hill Construction:
McGraw-Hill Construction connects people, projects and products across the construction industry. For more than a century, it has remained North America’s leading provider of project and product information, plans and specifications, and industry news, trends and forecasts. McGraw-Hill Construction serves more than one million customers in the global construction industry through Dodge, Sweets, Architectural Record, Engineering News-Record, GreenSource, and SNAP. To learn more, visit www.construction.com or follow @mhconstruction on Twitter.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies:
Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global financial information and education company that helps professionals and students succeed in the Knowledge Economy. Leading brands include Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, Platts energy information services and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has approximately 21,000 employees with more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2010 were $6.2 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com.

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Media Contacts:
Lisa Jaycox, Manager, External Communications,
The McGraw-Hill Companies Information & Media, +1 212-512-3272, lisa_jaycox@mcgraw-hill.com

Kathy Malangone, Senior Director, Marketing Communications,
McGraw-Hill Construction, +1 212-904-4376, kathy_malangone@mcgraw-hill.com

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Green Building Accelerates Globally through Economic Downturn, According to New McGraw-Hill Construction Study

Press Release

Green Building Accelerates Globally through Economic Downturn, According to New McGraw-Hill Construction Study
November 13, 2012 - New York, NY

Around the world, the green building marketplace is accelerating, according to a new study being released by McGraw-Hill Construction in partnership with United Technologies today at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in San Francisco.

The study indicates a shift in the global construction market, now viewing green as a business opportunity rather than a niche market. Overwhelmingly, firms report that their top reasons to do green work are client demand (35 percent) and market demand (33 percent)—two key business drivers of strategic planning. The next top reasons were also oriented toward the corporate bottom line—lower operating costs (30 percent) and branding advantage (30 percent). In contrast, the top reason in 2008 motivating the green building market was doing the right thing (42 percent) and market transformation (35 percent), followed by client and market demand.

"This research confirms that green building advances environmental stewardship while providing value to the market," said Geraud Darnis, president and CEO, United Technologies Climate, Controls & Security.  "It also confirms that we now see more pull than push for green buildings."

In the next three years, the sectors with the largest opportunity for green building around the world include new construction and renovation projects. Sixty three percent of firms have green work planned in new commercial projects and 45 percent in new institutional projects by 2015, and 50 percent have plans for green renovation work. In the United Kingdom and Singapore, green renovation projects were planned by the greatest number of firms at 65 and 69 percent respectively. In Brazil and UAE, new projects pose the largest opportunity. In Brazil, 83 percent of firms are planning to work on new green commercial projects over the next three years, and in the UAE, 73 percent have new green institutional projects planned.

"It is notable that over the next three years, firms working in countries around the world have green work planned across all building types, incorporating both new construction and renovation," said Harvey M. Bernstein, vice president, Industry Insights and Alliances for McGraw-Hill Construction. "The existing building market is a ripe opportunity for green building, and we are seeing that play out in the market. It is clear that green is becoming an important part of the future landscape of the global construction marketplace, and firms will need to be prepared for that transition."

Green buildings are also expected to garner business benefits for building owners. For new green building projects, firms report median operating cost savings of 8 percent over one year and 15 percent over five years, as well as increased building values of 7 percent (according to design and construction firms) and higher asset valuation of 5 percent (according to building owners).

For green retrofits, operating savings are higher than for new buildings with operating costs reported to decrease by 9 percent over one year and 13 percent over five years. Asset valuation is also expected to increase, though at more moderate levels than for new green buildings—design and construction professionals expect 5 percent increased building value from green retrofits, and owners expect higher asset valuation of 4 percent. For green projects, payback on efforts is expected within 8 years for new projects and 7 years for retrofit/renovation work.

Other significant findings include:

"We’ve been on the ground watching the markets shift to green around the world. Today, there are green building councils in 92 countries around the world—more than double what it was when we first looked at the green building market globally in 2008," said Jane Henley, president of the World Green Building Council. "The business case is helping move the markets, and this study underscores the importance of measuring and reporting those benefits."

"This study validates what we’ve experienced the past couple of years — that the business community has fully embraced green building as a strategic business imperative that also happens to have a strong societal benefit.  We see this as a success of LEED and all the rating systems that have helped drive green building movement globally," said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair, U.S. Green Building Council.

The study also revealed that approximately 48 percent of the work by U.S. respondents was green—with that share expected to increase to 58 percent by 2015. These results are consistent with McGraw-Hill Construction’s 2013 Dodge Green Construction Outlook that sized the green building share of new construction starts in the U.S. to be 44 percent by value, and up to 55 percent by 2015.
The findings are drawn from a McGraw-Hill Construction survey of firms across 62 countries around the world. Firms include architects, engineers, contractors, consultants and building owners. The sample was drawn from firm members of the World Green Building Council in 62 countries, other global industry associations, and the ENR Top Lists. Of the respondents, 92 percent are members of Green Building Councils around the world. The results include a feature of 9 countries around the world with sufficient sample for statistical analysis. The study expands and contrasts against McGraw-Hill Construction’s 2008 Global Green SmartMarket Report study. Given the survey sample source, McGraw-Hill Construction compared the sample against a non-GBC member audience, which was comparable in terms of involvement in green and planned activity. Further, the U.S. sample was consistent with McGraw-Hill Construction’s extensive analysis of the U.S. construction market through its Dodge project data.

The study was produced in partnership with United Technologies with support from the World Green Building Council and the U.S. Green Building Council. Other research association partners include the Chartered Institute of Buildings, International Federation of Consulting Engineers (Fédération Internationale Des Ingénieurs-Conseils), Association for Consultancy and Engineering, Conseil International du Bâtiment (International Council for Building), Architect’s Council of Europe, and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. A separate survey of global manufacturing firms was also conducted.

The results of the study will be presented today in San Francisco at the International Summit at the Greenbuild Conference and Expo at the Moscone Center—West Building, with remarks by Geraud Darnis, president & CEO United Technologies Climate, Controls & Security at noon pacific time and presentation by Harvey Bernstein at 4:15 p.m. pacific time. The study will also be discussed at a panel from 11:00 to 11:30 a.m. pacific time on Wednesday, Nov. 14, at the McGraw-Hill Construction Booth #3539 in the Moscone Center—North Building Exhibit Hall. The panel will feature executives from McGraw-Hill Construction, United Technologies Climate, Controls & Security, World Green Building Council and U.S. Green Building Council.

For more key findings from the 2012 World Green Buildings Study, visit http://bit.ly/ZD4zz5. The full report containing these and other study results will be published as part of McGraw-Hill Construction’s SmartMarket Report series, with global release anticipated in the first quarter of 2013.

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About McGraw-Hill Construction:
McGraw-Hill Construction’s data, analytics, and media businesses—Dodge, Sweets, Architectural Record, GreenSource, and Engineering News-Record— create opportunities for owners, architects, engineers, contractors, building product manufacturers, and distributors to strengthen their market position, size their markets, prioritize prospects, and target and build relationships that will win more business. McGraw-Hill Construction serves more than one million customers through its trends and forecasts, industry news, and leading platform of construction data, benchmarks, and analytics. To learn more, visit www.construction.com.
About The McGraw-Hill Companies:
McGraw-Hill announced on September 12, 2011, its intention to separate into two companies: McGraw-Hill Financial, a leading provider of content and analytics to global financial markets, and McGraw-Hill Education, a leading education company focused on digital learning and education services worldwide. McGraw-Hill Financial's leading brands include Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ, S&P Dow Jones Indices, J.D. Power and Associates and Platts, a leader in commodities information.  With sales of $6.2 billion in 2011, the Corporation has approximately 23,000 employees across more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.

About United Technologies:
United Technologies Corp., based in Hartford, Connecticut, is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the building and aerospace industries.

Media Contact:
Kathy Malangone, Senior Director, Marketing Communications,
McGraw-Hill Construction, +1 212-904-4376, kathy_malangone@mcgraw-hill.com

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Quality and Value Driving Growth in the Green Building Market—According to New McGraw-Hill Construction SmartMarket Report on Green Homes and Remodeling

Press Release

Quality and Value Driving Growth in the Green Building Market—According to New McGraw-Hill Construction SmartMarket Report on Green Homes and Remodeling
Energy efficiency efforts become standard in new construction and remodeling projects, while remodelers place high value on waste management and sustainable materials.

May 1, 2012 - New York, NY

McGraw-Hill Construction, part of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), today released its latest SmartMarket Report: New and Remodeled Green Homes: Transforming the Residential Market at the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) National Green Building Conference and Expo. The report includes McGraw-Hill Construction's estimate that the green homes share of the construction market was 17% in 2011, equating to $17 billion, and expected to rise 29%-38%  by 2016, potentially a $87–114 billion opportunity, based on the five-year forecast for overall residential construction.

The report reveals that two of the key factors driving this market growth are the fact that green homes are seen as having higher quality and that they save consumers money.

"In the current residential market, there is an enormous need to differentiate your homes for consumers," says Harvey Bernstein, Vice President of Industry Insights and Alliances at McGraw-Hill Construction. "When builders are able to offer homes that not only are green, but also offer the combination of higher quality and better value, they have a major competitive edge over those building traditional homes."

This report, produced by McGraw-Hill Construction in conjunction with the NAHB and Waste Management, is designed to provide key insights into product and market opportunities in the single-family home building and remodeling industries. It is backed by proprietary research surveys and the power of the McGraw-Hill Construction Dodge database.

"NAHB builder and remodeler members were surveyed on their green building practices, which allowed us to shine a light on the state of the green market in this new report," said NAHB Chairman Barry Rutenberg, a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. "The results highlight the tremendous growth in green building, and the potential market opportunities that lie ahead. As more projects seek green certification, NAHB and the NAHB Research Center stand ready to meet the demands of this exciting and ever-changing market."

Factors driving the growth in the green home building and remodeling market include:

Higher quality for both new home builders and remodelers. For those doing a high volume of green homes (at least 60% of the homes they build), its importance is magnified, with 90% who regard higher quality as an important trigger for building green, compared to 72% of builders overall.Customers are strongly value-driven—around two-thirds of builders and remodeler respondents state that customers request green homes or remodeling projects in order to lower their energy use or save money, more than twice any other factor.Higher first costs for building green are noted by a much lower percentage of builders as an obstacle now than they were reported in 2008.

The study also reveals the key practices and technologies taking over in the residential marketplace as a result of the shift toward green:

More than 80% report that energy efficiency is making today's homes greener compared to two years ago. Use of energy-efficient features is pervasive in the market—the top practice by nearly all surveyed builders and remodelers, regardless of their level of green building activity.Indoor air quality is growing in importance and focus for home builders. 60% of home builders believe that efforts to improve indoor air quality make homes greener than they were two years ago, and 95% of high volume home builders report including features that impact air quality.More than half consider durable materials one of the most important features in their homes today. In particular, remodelers emphasize this key aspect of their projects. Durability and better materials are key reasons why green homes and remodeling projects are considered of higher quality.

"These findings confirm the shift we've seen in the market," says Jim Halter, Vice President, Construction Solutions for Waste Management. "Builders and remodelers are placing more emphasis on energy efficiency, increases in sustainability focused waste management practices and more products made from post-consumer materials. These important factors are pushing our industry forward."

The key findings from the study were presented by McGraw-Hill Construction on May 1 at a plenary session at NAHB's National Green Building Conference and Expo in Nashville, Tennessee, followed by a panel of industry experts discussing its impact on the market. For a copy of the report, visit http://analyticsstore.construction.com/index.php/new-and-remodeled-green-homes-transforming-the-residential-marketplace-2012.html .

About McGraw-Hill Construction:
McGraw-Hill Construction's data, analytics, and media businesses—Dodge, Sweets, Architectural Record, and Engineering News-Record—create opportunities for owners, architects, engineers, contractors, building product manufacturers, and distributors to strengthen their market position, size their markets, prioritize prospects, and target and build relationships that will win more business. McGraw-Hill Construction serves more than one million customers through its trends and forecasts, industry news, and leading platform of construction data, benchmarks, and analytics. To learn more, visit www.construction.com.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies:
McGraw-Hill (NYSE: MHP) announced on September 12, 2011, its intention to separate into two public companies: McGraw-Hill Financial, a provider of content and analytics to global financial markets, and McGraw-Hill Education, an education company focused on digital learning and education services worldwide. McGraw-Hill Financial's leading brands include Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ, S&P Indices, Platts energy information services, and J.D. Power and Associates. With sales of $6.2 billion in 2010, the Corporation has approximately 21,000 employees across more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.

About The National Association of Home Builders:
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is a Washington-based trade association representing more than 140,000 members involved in home building, remodeling, multifamily construction, property management, subcontracting, design, housing finance, building product manufacturing and other aspects of residential and light commercial construction. NAHB is affiliated with 800 state and local home builders associations around the country. NAHB's builder members will construct about 80 percent of the new housing units projected for this year.

About Waste Management, Inc.:
Waste Management, Inc., based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. It is also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. The company's customers include residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers throughout North America. To learn more information about Waste Management visit www.wm.com or www.thinkgreen.com.

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Media Contacts:

Kathy Malangone, Senior Director, Marketing Communications,
McGraw-Hill Construction, +1 212-904-4376, kathy_malangone@mcgraw-hill.com

Liz Thompson, Media Relations Manager
National Association of Home Builders, 202-266-8495, ethompson@nahb.org

Robert Kidwell, Communications Specialist
Waste Management, 713-512-6318, rkidwell@wm.com

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Pelli Building Will Replace Flood-Damaged Iowa Theater

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First Projects Certified Under Living Building Challenge

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Better Metrics of Green Benefits Needed, According to New McGraw-Hill Construction SmartMarket Executive Brief on Decision Making for Green Building Investments

Press Release

Better Metrics of Green Benefits Needed, According to New McGraw-Hill Construction SmartMarket Executive Brief on Decision Making for Green Building Investments 
September 24, 2012 - New York, NY

McGraw-Hill Construction, part of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), today released its latest SmartMarket Executive Brief: Determining the Value of Green Building Investments: A Perspective From Industry Leaders on Triple Bottom Line Decision Making, in partnership with URS, at the White House's 2012 GreenGov Symposium. The report provides the findings of qualitative research conducted by McGraw-Hill Construction through interviews with sustainability leaders in the education, healthcare, retail, manufacturing and federal government sectors on their perspectives about decision making for green building investments.
The report reveals that in order for green building to continue to gain market share at a comparable rate to the past decade, more far-reaching benefits need to be documented and demonstrated to organizational leadership for them to increase their level of green investments. These include benefits across the spectrum of financial, environmental and social benefits—often referred to as the "triple bottom line."
"To date, owners have acted on compelling benefits from their green investments, mainly savings in energy, water, waste and lowered operating costs," said Harvey Bernstein, Vice President of Industry Insights and Alliances at McGraw-Hill Construction. "However, these are only a fraction of the advantages offered by green buildings—missing is a quantification of the full triple bottom line benefits from these investments, especially around the social benefits to human performance and well-being."
The study includes recommendations on actions needed in the industry in order to accelerate green investments across the built environment:

Evaluate social, environmental and financial goals together when making decisions on green building investments;
Create green building benchmarks through standardization and disclosure of operational building costs;
Compile data and case studies that establish the value of nonfinancial benefits of green building;
Create better tools using a more thorough, industry-consensus definition of lifecycle costing based on impacts across the triple bottom line;
Assemble a public database of green project measures across the triple bottom line.

"The data confirm that sustainability is vital to business growth, for us and for our clients. The demand for business to demonstrate its ability to create value for all its stakeholders is paramount," said Lidia Berger, Vice President, Sustainable Practice Director – Facilities at URS. "URS understands how to design, implement and measure the value of sustainable investment. Most importantly, we can provide our clients with a measurable return on investment based on projects' economic, social, and environmental impacts."
Through in-depth interviews with sustainability leaders, the report finds that organizations are using lifecycle cost analysis of operational savings to demonstrate the ROI of green and to justify green building projects. However, most respondents report there is a need for more data about the non-financial benefits of green to encourage their organizations to increase their investment in green building. This report also reveals the need for standardized measures that can fully capture the impact of green building across the triple bottom line.
The results of the study will be presented today at 3:15 p.m. as part of the Economic Valuation session at the White House's 2012 GreenGov Symposium in Washington, DC.
For a copy of the report, visit http://analyticsstore.construction.com/index.php/smartmarket-executive-brief-determining-the-value-of-green-building-investments.html.
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About McGraw-Hill Construction:
McGraw-Hill Construction's data, analytics, and media businesses—Dodge, Sweets, Architectural Record, and Engineering News-Record—create opportunities for owners, architects, engineers, contractors, building product manufacturers, and distributors to strengthen their market position, size their markets, prioritize prospects, and target and build relationships that will win more business. McGraw-Hill Construction serves more than one million customers through its trends and forecasts, industry news, and leading platform of construction data, benchmarks, and analytics. To learn more, visit www.construction.com.
About The McGraw-Hill Companies:
McGraw-Hill announced on September 12, 2011, its intention to separate into two companies: McGraw-Hill Financial, a leading provider of content and analytics to global financial markets, and McGraw-Hill Education, a leading education company focused on digital learning and education services worldwide. McGraw-Hill Financial's leading brands include Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ, S&P Dow Jones Indices, Platts energy information services and J.D. Power and Associates. With sales of $6.2 billion in 2011, the Corporation has approximately 23,000 employees across more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.
Media Contact:
Kathy Malangone, Senior Director, Marketing Communications,
McGraw-Hill Construction, +1 212-904-4376, kathy_malangone@mcgraw-hill.com

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