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I realized we've never looked at any statistic here. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) offers the following statistics for buildings - keep in mind this is just in the U.S. Once you imagine how much energy and resources are used all over the world it becomes mind boggling. Although, no doubt here in the U.S. we use more than our fair share.

According to USGBC, in the United States alone, buildings account for:

• 65% of electricity consumption,
• 36% of energy use,
• 39% of greenhouse gas emissions,
• 30% of raw materials use,
• 30% of waste output (136 million tons annually)
• 12% of potable water consumption.

They also break it down further in their Green Building by the Numbers download (April 2008).

One of the scariest statistics is this one:

"The EPA estimates that 136 million tons of building-related construction and demolition (C&D) debris was generated in the U.S. in a single year. Source, and U.S. EPA Characterization of Construction and Demolition Debris in the United States, 1997 Update. Compare that to 209.7 million tons of municipal solid waste generated in the same year. Source: U.S. EPA Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the United States, 1997 Update. Report No. EPA530-R-98-007"

Holy, that looks really bad. What looks worse are these statements from the download: "By 2010, approximately 10% of commercial construction starts are expected to be green, according to McGraw Hill Green Building Smart Market Report 2006."

Only 10% of commercial starts? That seems very low. When you start looking at green residential it doesn't look much better. The National Association of Home Builders notes that green residential construction will reach somewhere between 5 percent and 10 percent in 2010. Wow. For some reason I thought the numbers were a little higher - did you?

The numbers above give you something to think about the next time you’re considering building new. Maybe you can remodel your current home to met your needs or renovate another home. A wisely renovated home uses less resources in most cases then building fresh.

You also might be interested in: Home Deconstruction Basics