With a President and an administration that understands the importance of 'green' to our economy, newly-release studies represent some positive news for the U.S. economy. Economic experts from both sides of the aisle are calling for a recovery plan focused on green jobs and infrastructure, as consumers look to live in more economically sustainable homes, and businesses strive to cut operating costs.

"As research comes in from diverse sources examining the interest in green buildings among a wide range of Americans, the numbers keep painting the same picture: The future of our built environment clearly centers on energy efficiency, water reduction, systems that encourage cleaner indoor air, the use of recycled and more sustainable developed materials, and communities that coexist with their environments," said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO & Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council. "Over and over again, Americans are saying the same thing: The key to a prosperous future is sustainability, and the triple bottom line – environmental responsibility, economic prosperity and social equity – is imperative as we move forward."

According to Turner Construction Company's "Green Building Barometer," 75 percent of commercial real estate executives – including developers, rental building owners, brokers, architects, engineers and others – say the credit crunch will not discourage them from building green. In fact, 83 percent said they would be "extremely" or "very" likely to seek LEED certification for buildings they are planning to build within the next three years.

Other key findings from this and other studies, conducted over the past year among constituencies ranging from consumers and homeowners to commercial real estate executives, include:

• 70 percent of homebuyers are more or much more inclined to buy a green home over a conventional home in a down housing market, according to McGraw-Hill Construction's 2008 SmartMarket Report, "The Green Home Consumer." That number is 78 percent for those earning less than $50,000 a year, showing the increasing access to green buildings for all members of our society. In fact, 56 percent of respondents who bought green homes in 2008 earn less than $75,000 per year; 29 percent earn less than $50,000.

• More than 80 percent of commercial building owners have allocated funds to green initiatives this year, according to "2008 Green Survey: Existing Buildings," a survey jointly funded by Incisive Media's Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com, the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Some 45 percent plan to increase sustainability investments in 2009.

• The "2008 Green Survey: Existing Buildings" study also showed that 60 percent of commercial building owners offer education programs to assist tenants in implementing green programs in their space, up 49.4 percent from last year, illustrating a growing understanding of the importance of environmental awareness among employees and customers in addition to the use of green materials and systems.

• LEED-certified projects are directly tied to more than $10 billion of green materials, according to a Greener World Media study on green building. That could reach more than $100 billion by 2020, contributing to a vibrant industry that could drive an economic recovery.

• The Center for American Progress and the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, in a September 2008 study, found that a national green economic recovery program investing $100 billion over 10 years in six infrastructure areas would create 2 million new jobs. The investments would include retrofitting existing buildings to improve energy efficiency and investing in wind power, solar power and next-generation biofuels.

The opportunities exist today for creating a newly built building environment that performs at a higher level and works for owners rather than against them. Likewise, our nation's vast existing building stock can be made greener – and studies show that owners are interested in more efficient long-term operations and maintenance savings.

Hopefully, campaign promises and Capitol Hill scuttlebutt will become reality.

Note: The U.S. Green Building Council, founded in 1993, is a nonprofit membership organization whose vision is a sustainable built environment within a generation. Its membership includes corporations, builders, universities, government agencies, and other nonprofit organizations. The LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building certification system is a feature-oriented certification program that awards buildings points for satisfying specified green building criteria.