More than a year ago various media outlets and other stakeholder groups claimed that Connecticut did not have a big enough inventory of green buildings.  But currently, commercial green buildings are very hot here in the Nutmeg state. Every day, a new green building project is announced somewhere in the state.

Case in point, earlier this week Donald Trump got into the green game and announced the Trump Parc Stamford will be built to LEED standards and Naugutuck will get a $700 million green make-over courtesy of a public/private partnership between The Conroy Development Company of Fairfield, Connecticut and the Borough of Naugatuck and the Naugatuck Economic Development Corporation.  (Pictured above.)  

Some other green projects recently announced are either just getting started or close to being finished include:

Metro Green, Stamford
Harbor Point, Stamford
Georgetown Land Development, Redding
Fairfield Metro Center
Campus at Greenhill, Wallingford
iPark, Norwalk
Wall Street Project, Norwalk
Mansfield Town Center
L.L. Bean Store, South Windsor
The Henry Lee Institute of Forensic Science, West Haven

So why the growth?  Some of the drivers in the Connecticut marketplace include high energy costs, lack of class A office space,  development of affordable and innovative eco-friendly building/décor products and of course, the fact that green is in right now.  In fact, if you read the NY Times Magazine section this past Sunday, you would have seen the special on green buildings and all the ads for this green building and that green building. Now, I’m not a futurist but if I was, I would say the odds of any new construction in the next year not being green are very slim. In a couple of years, if you own a building that is not green, your building will not have regular tenets and you will be forced to charge below market rates.

This is the dawning of a new era of construction trends in Connecticut.  No longer are we last in LEED registered projects.  The state has come a long way since 2005 when the Hartford Courant called out developers and elected officials to make more of an effort to build green.  Well the legislature has done very little which is good because they would love to mandate it.  I really don’t think they have to do that.  The marketplace is doing it on its own and will continue to at a rapid pace.  Message to legislators, don’t worry about buildings just pass a budget.

Auggies Note:  Governor Rell and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger joined forces and co-autored an op-ed published yesterday in the Washington Post, threatening legal action if the federal government continues to block state efforts to set emissions standards for passenger vehicles.  OK, so the visual I get – the terminator meets Mary Tyler Moore.
 

Filed under: Green Buildings