Survey Assesses Client Knowledge of Sustainable Design Practices
Practical issues drive their requests to incorporate green techniques.

The third quarter Business Quarterly survey asked firm leaders about client familiarity with sustainable design techniques and reasons for incorporating them into a project. Only one in 10 (10.1 percent) reported clients as very knowledgeable about sustainable design, compared to 52 percent as somewhat knowledgeable and only 3.7 percent as not knowledgeable or interested. The most popular reasons clients incorporated sustainable design into projects were saving money on utility or maintenance costs (50.7 percent); meeting a government regulation, code, or construction standard (49.1 percent); marketing cachet (40.6 percent); and reducing environmental harm (39.8 percent).

Rate client knowledge about sustainable design practices:
Very knowledgeable – 10.1%
Somewhat knowledgeable – 52.0%
Not very knowledgeable, but interested – 34.2%
Neither knowledgeable nor interested – 3.7%

Reasons clients request sustainable design techniques (multiple answers):
Save money on utility or maintenance costs – 50.7%
Meet requirements by government regulation, code, or construction standard – 49.1%
Add marketing cachet – 40.6%
Reduce environmental harm – 39.8%
Eligible for government incentive such as a tax break or quicker approval – 27.9%
Lower upkeep time and effort – 27.3%
Clients are not requesting sustainable design – 10.6%
Other – 12.7%

About the Survey
The ASLA Business Quarterly survey asks quarterly benchmarks on key statistics including billable hours, inquiries, and hiring plans. The Q3 2009 national survey was fielded October 1 through 16, with 381 firm representatives responding.