PITTSBURGH – Durability is the most important characteristic associated with building products in general and “green” building products in particular, according to the findings of a blind survey of U.S. architects commissioned by PPG Industries.

The survey encompassed 629 U.S. architects representing a cross-section of job titles, experience, firm sizes and geographic locations. PPG has commissioned architect surveys at regular intervals since 2003.

For green building products, architects mentioned environmental product declarations (EPDs) and independent product certifications as the most important product attributes, following product durability, representing an upward trend from the 2008 and 2012 surveys. Another key green building product attribute, lifecycle assessments, declined slightly compared to the last two surveys.

For general building products, durability was followed in importance among surveyed architects by product warranties, product features and the responsiveness of product manufacturer representatives.

Consistent with past surveys, about 30% of responding firms reported doing work outside the United States. Twenty-nine percent cited work in China and Canada, while 16% claimed work in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Twelve percent of surveyed firms have done project work in Mexico, and 10% each completed work in the United Kingdom and South Korea.

The online survey of 629 respondents produced a ±3.9% margin of error at the 95% confidence interval.