AGC encourages owners to build greener in response to climate change

The Associated General Contractors of America is calling on project owners and contractors to keep environmental protection in mind when designing buildings and take other steps to combat climate change.

The AGC’s new initiative, announced on Tuesday, results from the work of a task force formed in recent months to consider ways that the construction industry could better respond to the warming climate. The task force’s recommendations call on public officials and private building owners to make use of various technologies to reduce emissions. The AGC also plans to set up a separate group to identify carbon-reduction steps that can be taken by contractors.

According to the AGC, the construction industry is responsible for less than 2% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Building emissions, however, account for about 31% of emissions, and 40% of all energy expenditures in the U.S. are used to power buildings.

To help reduce these numbers, the AGC said, contractors should make it a point in the early stages of a project to talk to the owner about the benefits of using less-carbon-intensive materials and design features.

“A constructor having a voice at the table early on, by working with clients and designers, we can point out the availability of more sustainable materials,” said Les Snyder, president of Shikun & Binui America, of Pittsburgh, and the chairman of the association’s task force on climate change. “Every day more and more is being developed and it’s all on the right track.”

The AGC, meanwhile, plans to call on the federal government to establish or offer additional tax credits for building structures with features meant to reduce carbon emissions.

Federal officials, the AGC said, should also take steps to make existing government buildings energy efficient. The AGC said there is a crying need for these sorts of improvements. The U.S. General Services Administration, for instance, has $3.9 billion in unmet maintenance.

Separately, government officials could push for greater use of recycled materials and take steps to move structures in flood-prone areas to higher ground in flood-prone areas. The AGC also called on equipment manufacturers to commit to making energy-efficient construction vehicles and on contractors to take various steps to reduce their carbon emissions. Companies, for instance, might make use of solar-powered jobsite trailers or adopt anti-idling policies to prevent the waste of fuel and emissions that occur when equipment is run unnecessarily.

“We know climate change is a challenge that must be addressed, and we appreciate that the industry best-positioned to do that is the construction industry,” said Steven Sandherr, AGC chief executive.

“That’s why we will be working hard over the coming months and years to make sure the construction industry and our association play a lead role in building a better more efficient and less carbon intensive future.” Follow @natebeck9