The real estate/design/construction industry took a big hit  this time last year, and the Rocky Mountain resort areas were not immune.  Many of the design and engineering firms were forced to stare straight into the eyes of  laying off talented people and even facing the possibility of going under.  Construction companies took a while longer since their workload lasted through 2008 and into 2009, but even so, the writing is still very much all over the wall.  All the while, a movement which started decades ago has been exponentially gaining momentum in the wings and is rapidly becoming an element that differentiates one company from another in an industry which has experienced very little relative change, at least since the introduction of cowboy hard hats.  Often called “green building”, the movement is challenging us to re-evaluate the way we design, build, operate, and live inside and outside of structures, and challenging us to build them so that they are “sustainable”.  There have been recent statements alluding to 2010 being the beginning of the sustainable era.  Having never been great at guessing the future, it’s better to post what the more gutsy writers had to offer:

• “10 Sustainability Predictions for 2010” by Val Haskell and Rob Farris from information-management.com
• “15 Green Predictions for 2010” by Tom Raferty from greenmonk.net
• “Ten clean technology predictions for 2010” by Nicolas Parker from cleantech.com

Regardless of these predictions being right or wrong, having witnessed what has happened in the last 2-3 years it is probably safe to say that 2010 will be interesting.  Let’s hope we’re nearing the upward swing soon!