An Arts and Crafts wallpaper image by way of illustration of the blooming of the green building industry.

As we’ve reported in the past, the “green” building industry (new, retrofit, and prefab) is booming. Here’s a round up of reports about the ongoingess of it all, news-hooked on a report from McGraw-Hill Construction.

Despite a deep economic recession, the U.S. green building market has expanded dramatically since 2008 and is projected to double its size by 2015, says a new report by McGraw-Hill Construction.

The report comes as the private U.S. Green Building Council holds its annual Greenbuild conference this week in Chicago, which has attracted tens of thousands of attendees from more than 100 countries and more than 900 companies exhibiting their green products.

via Report: Green building market booms in weak economy – Green House – USATODAY.com.

The report, “Green Outlook 2011: Green Trends Driving Growth,” found that green building represented 25 percent of all new construction activity in 2010 and that the value of green building construction starts was up 50 percent from 2008 to 2010 — from $42 billion to $55 billion-$71 billion.

The report, according to Earth and Industry, says that

Not only are new homes in the U.S. getting smaller, they are getting greener….

green building represented 25 percent of all new construction activity in 2010 and that the value of green building construction starts was up 50 percent from 2008 to 2010 — from $42 billion to $55 billion-$71 billion.

And the growth spurt isn’t over. According to projections, by 2015, the size of the green building market is expected to grow to $135 billion.

In the press release obviously lurking behind both these reports is this widely reproduced quote:

“It’s an amazing area of opportunity at time when the construction market is extremely challenged,” said Harvey M. Bernstein, vice president, Global Thought Leadership and Business Development, McGraw-Hill Construction. “In today’s economy, firms that specialize in green or serve this market are seeing a tremendous advantage–and they’re doing good at the same time. Green building leads to healthier places for us to live and work in, lower energy and water use, and better profitability.”

This is great news, but green-washing and bubble-thinking also become more of a danger in the wake of reports like this that are produced by members of the industry. We can argue the epistemological validity of “objectivity” until we’re blue in the face but this is a simple case of journalistic common sense: follow the money that hired the researchers and writers of the report.

• BP
• American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity
• GM
• Exxon Mobil
• Monsanto
• Malaysian Palm Oil Council
• American Electric Power
• Dow Chemical
• Fur Council of Canada
• Fiji Water