Today's Highlights

Federal Stimulus Projects Still Coming

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) set into motion much-needed funding for green building and energy initiatives. Many projects were awarded quickly and provided some stimulus to the economy. Others were not quite as shovel-ready as hoped.

But GSA has been working hard to get their projects out the door and now, as 2010 winds down, opportunities are continuing for new and even smaller projects. Our contractors involved in high performance building and energy projects will be following developments closely. MCAA is providing links to direct you to as many specific project lists as possible.

  • Visit www.fedbizopps.gov to look for opportunities. When reviewing the GSA's projects, be sure to look at all regions, as they tend to be listed according to where the designing office is located, not where the project is located.
  • Check out MCAA's Stimulus Spending Information Center for the information on Green Jobs and projects being financed under the Recovery Act.

Market Overview

The share of the construction marketplace that is "green" continues to expand despite the economic recession. The private sector as well as federal, state and local governments are requiring more energy and water efficiency in their high performance building projects. Federal stimulus funds have provided impetus for long-needed infrastructure upgrades uch as wastewater treatment and safe drinking water projects.

McGraw Hill 2011 Green Outlook

Back in 2005, the “green” share of new nonresidential construction was only $3 billion, or 2 percent of the U.S. market. Still, MCAA began providing our members opportunities to gain LEED certification for their key professionals and resources on this market. Now in 2010, over a third of new nonresidential building is “green”, or $54 billion. And in a McGraw Hill outlook released in October, 2010, they estimate that as the market recovers by 2015, roughly half of the new nonresidential market, or $154 billion in construction, will be “green.”

And those promising numbers don’t even include the three- to five-fold growth expected over the next five years for major green retrofit projects, according to McGraw Hill. So the move toward high performance buildings and the new energy economy continues to gain steam.