Grateful for Progress

The years go by, and sustainability marches on. I’m incredibly thankful for a robust and prolific community that has the courage to be the change that the world needs.

2025 will mark Green Builder Media’s 20th anniversary. So much has changed in the past two decades. The green building market, and Green Builder Media along with it, has evolved from niche to mainstream.

As individuals, building professionals, corporations, and governments around the world have awakened to our pressing environmental realities, sustainability has become an intelligent strategy to reduce costs, increase resiliency, mitigate risk, strengthen supply chains, improve employee relations, and enhance customer loyalty.    

Widespread global adoption of sustainability is here, and growth will continue in nations across the globe and sectors throughout the economy—regardless of the policies of any one administration.

Celebrating Achievements

While it is likely that we’ll see environmental protection and sustainability policy rollbacks at the federal level in the next few years in the U.S., we can also expect to see major advancements in municipal and state based codes, regulations, and funding mechanisms that drive adoption of energy efficiency, electrification, renewable energy, and resiliency.

This will be particularly evident in cities like Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, San Diego, Boston, Seattle, and Houston, which have made aggressive emissions reduction commitments by 2030 that largely rely on green building initiatives.

Even with potential headwinds from tariffs and regulations under the new administration, solar has undeniably become a cost-competitive energy resource for the U.S. The American Clean Power Association (ACP) projects that the U.S. solar market will grow 6.6% annually from 2025 to 2030, reaching 37GW of annual new installations by 2030, and that solar capital costs will continue to drop 14% by 2035 due to declining module prices.

Furthermore, a recent report from think tank Ember indicates that the planet is reaching global peak fossil fuel use, with approximately 50 percent of the countries across the globe transitioning away from fossil fuels. Most notably, China is nearing a period of declining fossil fuel use, adopting renewable energy at warp speed.

According to the Ember report, wind and solar has slowed fossil power sector growth by nearly 75 percent over the past ten years. Coal hit its peak in 2008 and has been rapidly declining ever since, and now one-third of the richest nations in the world are coal free (including the United Kingdom, which shuttered its last coal-fired power plant earlier this year).

And while we’re still a far cry from the 43 percent emissions reduction target that would keep us under a 1.5 Celsius degree warming threshold, new mechanisms are emerging to mitigate risk and enable us to meet our climate goals.

For example, at the recent COP29 meetings, a global architecture for carbon markets emerged that will authorize carbon credit transactions, manage tracking registries, ensure environmental integrity of projects, and define the parameters for technical reviews.

In the U.S., the green building market is surging, driven by the combination of consumer demand, investor requirements, ratcheted codes, and enabling technologies. Remarkable strides are being made in areas like energy efficiency, electrification, and decarbonization.

Programs like the U.S. Department of Energy's Zero Energy Ready Home certification have paved the way for builders to meet higher energy performance standards. Thousands of homes across the country now meet or exceed net-zero energy benchmarks, reducing emissions and lowering costs for residents.

States like California and Washington have set the bar with aggressive updates to building codes, mandating higher energy efficiency, electrification, and renewable energy integration. States like Massachusetts and Colorado have adopted or are advancing policies aligned with net-zero emissions targets.

Cities such as New York and Seattle have introduced groundbreaking policies requiring electrification in new buildings. New York City’s Local Law 97 sets clear carbon reduction mandates for large buildings, while Seattle’s Energy Code leads the way in transitioning away from fossil fuels.

Looking Ahead

The future holds immense promise. The U.S. green building market projected to grow at an annual rate of over 8% through 2030, fueled by billions of dollars in incentives for energy-efficient buildings, retrofits, and clean energy technologies.

In 2025, we can expect to see the launch of ANSI standard 1550, which will standardize calculation of embodied carbon in residential projects, and continued adoption of standards like ASHRAE 90.1, pushing the industry toward decarbonization.

Manufacturers will also continue to play a pivotal role, releasing innovative sustainable building materials that will reshape the construction landscape —such as recycled glass cement additives to reduce the embodied carbon of concrete, even smarter electrical panels that optimize peak load shifting and shedding, and phase change materials that store and release heat in response to ambient temperature changes.

And consumer demand will remain a driving factor, pushing climate action further and faster than ever before. Values based and mission driven, Millennials and Gen Zs are steering the economy to new frontiers.

These individuals have more economic power than any previous generation. They are now are earning more, saving more, and investing earlier than their parents and grandparents, and they’re on the receiving end of a wealth transfer of tens of trillions of dollars that will continue to impact the entire economy, particularly the housing sector, for decades to come.

Call to Action

Even as we celebrate these achievements, it’s crucial to recognize the urgency of the challenges ahead. Achieving our ambitious—and necessary—climate targets will require even greater collaboration, innovation, and perseverance in the years to come.

Fortunately, I find great comfort in the stalwart and perpetually expanding network of dedicated, passionate, and committed sustainability professionals that Green Builder Media has amassed over the past two decades.

Because none of us hears this enough, I want to offer a sincere and heartfelt thank you for your hard work. Together, we are building more than structures—we are building hope for future generations. Let us continue to work together, knowing that every effort, no matter how small, contributes to transformative impact.

Interested in learning more? Green Builder Media’s COGNITION Academy has robust courses on net zero carbon building, green building fundamentals, green product essentials and green building program like ENERGY STAR, Zero Energy Ready Homes, Indoor airPLUS, WaterSense, and HERS ratings. Visit the COGNITION Academy microsite to enroll today!

Check out the COGNITION Carbon Offsets Marketplace if you’re interested in purchasing carbon offsets to mitigate emissions from your products, projects, or lifestyle.