Green Building Innovations: Top Trends Shaping 2025

From where we live to where we work and play, buildings shape our daily lives. In them, we create our homes and pursue our ambitions. They are a core part of our favorite memories. However, designing and building them impacts the climate. Once they are built, they also release chemicals and other compounds into the air while we live our lives. 

Those concerned with climate change have developed solutions to minimize harmful environmental impacts. Construction techniques and building materials have shifted to creating buildings with modern function and less environmental impact. Green building trends continue to evolve and allow us to live in harmony with nature. Enhance sustainability in commercial buildings with these trends. 

What is Green Building? 

Calling a building green has nothing to do with the shade of its exterior. It has everything to do with its construction, and how it capitalizes on innovative green building solutions to reduce its environmental impact.

Sometimes these solutions leverage sources of renewable energy, like solar or wind power. However, they also come by using advanced building methods such as avoiding the use of toxic or harmful materials or designing lighting in ways that lower a building's utility usage.

One of the main principles behind green building ideas and solutions is that it's a multi-faceted approach, accounting for factors like: 

• Development Site: Prioritizes building on previously developed land, rather than undeveloped land.

• Low Utility Usage: Uses solutions like low-flow toilets, greywater irrigation systems, and efficient HVACs.

• Waste Reduction: Uses as many recyclable and non-toxic materials as possible.

7 Green Building Trends for 2025

Take advantage of the latest green building trends to reduce energy consumption and improve your environmental impact.

1. Emerging Sustainable Materials

Substituting traditional building materials with sustainable ones is an efficient way to make your construction projects greener. These materials come from renewable sources with a lower environmental impact. You may already be using bamboo or hempcrete in your projects. Consider these emerging materials: 

• Recycled and Reclaimed Materials: As cities develop and change, old buildings come down. Use reclaimed wood, glass, and plastic to eliminate the need for new raw materials.  

• Self Healing Concrete: Traditional concrete cracks from roots, temperature fluctuations, and excess wear. Self-healing concrete can repair its own cracks with agents that react to air and water. 

• Biodegradable Materials: In 2025, manufacturers are experimenting with bamboo and other materials that break down faster when composted. These durable materials last for your building life and have less environmental impact when you replace them.

2. Smart Building Technologies

Smart building technology such as internet of things (IoT) powered sensors and artificial intelligence can make your building more energy efficient. These devices optimize how your building uses resources. They also help you collect data on your building and make changes to reduce energy consumption.

For example, in a commercial building, an IoT sensor can adjust the temperature and humidity levels based on how many occupants are in a room. These devices are green and they lower your operational costs, which is a win-win. You can retrofit for sustainable buildings by adding smart technology to older spaces. 

3. Net-Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB)

You can develop an NZEB that produces as much energy as it uses each year. These buildings run on renewable energy to offset their energy loads. In a true NZEB, 100% of its energy demand is produced onsite. This isn’t always feasible, particularly with commercial buildings that use a lot of energy. 

You can also achieve net-zero energy consumption through building renovations. Calculate your carbon emissions and offset them by using sustainable building materials and adding renewable energy sources into the mix. 

4. Biophilic Design Elements

Spending time in nature boosts your mood and impacts your mental and physical health. Biophilic design elements bring nature into the built environment. A building with biophilic design exists in harmony with the surrounding area. If you’ve ever seen an outdoor pool that mimics a natural lagoon, you get the picture. 

You achieve biophilic design in sustainable building construction by incorporating plants, natural light, animals, and other elements into the built environment. This could be as simple as adding a rooftop garden or covering a wall with ivy. You can also mimic natural shapes and forms to simulate organic spaces. 

5. Water Conservation Systems

An increase in drought and wildfires highlights the importance of saving water. Green building trends in 2025 include solutions that minimize water usage. Emerging solutions include rainwater harvesting, which involves collecting stagnant rainwater from roofs and other surfaces and storing it for later. 

Some buildings include dual plumbing systems. You separate your plumbing by potable and reclaimed water. Potable water flows to drinking fountains and washing stations, and reclaimed water is used for landscaping or restrooms, for example. 

Green building technologies like IoT sensors also detect leaks faster so you can fix them before wasting gallons of water. 

6. Green Building Certifications

People require energy efficient buildings. It’s no longer a luxury. Green building certifications are shifting with regulations and emerging trends. The U.S. Green Building Council has been updating LEED to include decarbonization, health, equity, and resilience. This certification also considers how a building remains sustainable over its lifetime. 

Similarly, the BRE Group is updating BREEAM to include water conservation and sustainable transportation standards. Like LEED v5, BREEAM v7 takes a whole-life approach to evaluating a building’s carbon emissions. 

7. Sustainable Materials and Practices

Green construction trends embrace using sustainable materials in your building and refining techniques you use during the building process. We’ve touched on emerging sustainable materials such as recycled plastic and steel. 

You can reduce your carbon emissions during the construction process by sourcing locally and using low-VOC paint and materials. These materials also improve indoor air quality which makes your building healthier. 

Transform your construction projects with sustainable building methods. Try prefabricating components and using renewable energy during the construction process. Design with sustainability in mind, and use energy-efficient doors, windows, and other materials. 

Explore Green Building Solutions With Attune

There are plenty of advantages to green building. You reduce your operational costs while creating spaces that are healthier and more inviting to tenants. Attune’s IoT hardware and software fits seamlessly into your building’s infrastructure. Our IoT sensors analyze and diagnose real-time water and energy usage issues that are making your building less efficient. 

Schedule a demo today to get started on your green building efforts.