Are U.S. government stimulus funds
affecting your clients’ facility plans?
• Yes
• No
22%
78%
chart U
Primary impact of energy
costs on clients’ facility plans:
• Affecting facility operations 42%
• Affecting supply/distribution
network decisions 25%
• No effect 33%
chart V
Primary implication of pending cap-and-trade
legislation on clients’ facility plans:
• Delaying scheduled investment 23%
• Modifying facility design or capacity 6%
• Influencing location decision, including
attractiveness of U.S. for investment 19%
• No effect 52%
chart W
Is sustainable development more important
to your clients now than in the past?
• Yes
• No
68%
32%
• LEED certification for new or existing facilities 41%
• Energy-saving modifications to existing facilities 63%
• Installed on-site renewable generation 15%
• Change of supply or distribution
routes/methods 23%
• Recycling or re-use of waste products, etc. 37%
• Other 2%
Measures being undertaken by clients to
reduce their “carbon footprint”:
vey said this legislation was having no effect on
their facility plans.
In another energy-related question, the 2009
Consultants Survey-takers were also asked
whether sustainable development was more
important to their clients now than in the past,
and 68 percent said yes. More than 60 percent of
the respondents said their clients were undertaking energy-saving modifications to their existing
facilities to reduce their companies’ carbon footprint, and more than 40 percent said their clients
were seeking LEED certification (Chart X). More
than half of the responding consultants also said
the communities they were working with were, in
fact, offering specific incentives for “green” initiatives (Chart Y).
The site selection factor that showed the greatest
change overall — a jump of 16. 5 percentage points
— was availability of long-term financing. This factor
received a 75 percent importance rating this year, up
from 58.5 percent in 2008, although its ranking in
relation to the other site selection factors did not
change significantly. Tight credit markets are having
their effect on the consultants’ clients.
Another factor that increased its importance rating — up 13. 5 percentage points to 61.9 percent —
while maintaining its relative place in the rankings
was availability of unskilled labor. With record unemployment across most of the nation, this increase
in importance rating comes as a surprise.
The third-largest increase in the ratings ( 12. 3
percentage points) goes to the right-to-work state
factor, which was rated “very important” or “
important” by 81.2 percent of the respondents to our
2009 Consultants Survey, up from 68.9 percent in
2008; it was ranked 13th among the 2009 site
selection factors. Consultants are perhaps keenly
aware of the constraints put on companies’ management by organized labor.
