PPG glass requests for LEED documentation up nearly 300 percent since 2007

Requests for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design documentation for Pittsburgh-basedPPG Industries' exterior architectural glass products have nearly tripled since 2007, mirroring the growth of “green” building in the United States over the same time period, according to a Feb. 23 release.

According to three-year data from PPG’s performance glazings business, one in five requests for LEED documentation support was for commercial buildings, followed by higher education (18 percent), K-12 education (13 percent), and government (11 percent). Institutional buildings and health care facilities accounted for 8 percent and 4 percent of the documentation requests, respectively. In 2010, higher education, government and K-12 education projects generated the most documentation requests, reflecting the well-documented drop in commercial construction activity last year.

Nearly 40 percent of requests came from three states: California (15 percent), Texas (12 percent) and Pennsylvania (10 percent). Other states contributing more than 5 percent of the total were Virginia, North Carolina, New York and Maryland.

LEED documentation requests regarding PPG glass grew by 57 percent from 2009 to 2010, said James Bogdan, PPG manager, sustainability marketing initiatives. “Despite a struggling construction market, most requests were for projects seeking the new construction platform,” he said in the release. “The green building market in general saw a 30 percent increase in LEED certification, based on floor area, over the same time frame.”