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It’s a tough time for construction companies—even the enlightened builders that focus on sustainability. But those specializing in environmentally friendly design are doing better than most. They have a leg up in winning lucrative contracts on college campuses—which are going green in part to attract students—and government-funded projects flush with money thanks to federal stimulus spending.

University Projects
Even as home values remain in the cellar and new construction starts are at a full stop, public and private colleges are expanding. As any parent can attest, colleges bring in plenty of revenue and they are in heated competition for students and their tuition dollars. One way colleges attract students is to be greener than their competitors.

In the Princeton Review’s recent "College Hopes and Worries" survey, two-thirds of students said a college's "environmental commitment" would be a factor in where they applied.

"Students are really savvy shoppers these days, so they're realizing, with a changing economy and green jobs looking to take a leap within the next couple of years, that they want to be armed with those types of skills," David Soto of Princeton Review told the USA Today.

The architecture school at Harvard University is offering a concentration in sustainable design. Construction and architecture companies have great opportunities to give these students real-world experience and concrete (literally) examples of sustainable buildings. For example, Harvard is putting green architecture into practice in 17 LEED-certified buildings and roofs full of solar panels.

My alma mater, the University of Colorado, topped the Sierra Club’s list of “the most eco-enlightened US universities.” All new buildings at CU must meet LEED Gold standards, and there is always a new construction project on campus.

The University of Washington requires LEED Silver status for new campus construction. And there is ground being broken for LEED-certified projects on dozens of other campuses across the country, including a Willamette University residence hall and a University of Florida athletic complex. Even the small, private Middlebury College in Vermont has a new biomass gasification plant project underway.

Certainly students are involved in some aspects of research and design, but the schools still need skilled labor and professional expertise. This is where construction companies experienced in green building come in.

Government-Funded Projects
Other public buildings offer equally lucrative sustainable construction opportunities. Thanks to massive federal economic stimulus funding to help an ailing economy, governments are among the few entities spending money these days (and they aren’t just buying car companies). The Denver Museum of Nature and Science, which receives government funding, installed 465 solar panels this year. A small Boulder solar company landed the lucrative contract, a photo opportunity with President Obama and some major national publicity for installing the panels. Shortly after the installation, Obama toured the solar array and used the museum as a backdrop for signing the stimulus bill.

Publicly funded buildings and private college projects offer construction companies a wide range of opportunities for installing solar panels and other alternative energy systems, as well as designing and constructing green buildings. At a time when most construction companies are struggling, those that have gone green are being rewarded handsomely. And they should remain at the front of the pack when the economy improves and society continues its march toward environmental sustainability.

Updated 6/16/10; originally posted 9/2/09.

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