The popularity of adopting green building principles has thrived during, or perhaps because of, the recession, because the principles create powerful cost-cutting opportunities.

More than 20% of small U.S. cities and towns have adopted or expanded their green building programs since 2007, according to a report out this week from the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

The number of cities that have adopted green building programs has doubled since 2007, jumping from 92 then to 138 now, and 24 of the 25 most populated metropolitan regions in the U.S. have green building policies.

Green building initiatives have overcome the naysayers, according to Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell, because the cost-savings generated by energy-efficient investments are impossible to deny.

The negatives about green building or other sustainable ideas used to be that the new technology was expensive. But that’s changing, according to Heartwell, whose city’s green building efforts are profiled in the report, Green Building Policy in a Changing Economic Environment. “I think that we are at the point now where the arguments around cost, have been proven to be, if not fallacious, at least weak arguments when you look at the long-term costs of maintaining a green building,” he says.

The AIA report also finds that:

• The West has the most green building programs –  56 cities in six states
• The Rocky Mountain region is second in the percentage of cities with green building programs
• The Eastern region has seen a 75% rise in green building programs since 2007, and
• The Midwest has 21 cities with green building programs.

Another driving factor is the huge economic stimulus spending, the report acknowledges. So with help to invest in energy-efficient technology, cities are reaping the long-term savings as well.

Tags: American Institute of Architects, economic stimulus, green buildings