There is, however, a more practical side to this paradigm shift:

These four were not surprising, given the economic and regulatory conditions of 2007 to 2009 and their impacts on building owners. Faced with energy spikes in 2007 and 2008 and the recession beginning in 2008, owners found it difficult to set reliable utility budgets and obtain financing for capital projects. (Rozgus)

Furthermore, as regards to the write-in answers on the surveys, the top four were all ralted energy efficiency or sustainability, they were: LED lighting and lighting controls, Alternative energy, LEED and green technology or regulations, and Energy efficiency.

The authors conclude that if sustainability and lifecycle issues such as environmental performance, reliability, maintainability, and lifecycle cost, are important to the owner, then these issues will have to be more clearly defined in the engineering contracts. Consequently the associated extra costs and fees that would be required to support these efforts must also be clearly articulated as well.

Levin, Carl. "A Revolution in Transportation." Daily Press. 10 Aug. 2010 Web

In this article, Senator Carl Levin, an advocate of the electric car and other sustainable engineering technologies,...

Not only that, but he brings up more important concerns, cost:
How do we bring down the cost of these electric vehicles so that they're not just for the wealthy and environmentally conscious, but affordable to families who are stretching their paychecks to make ends meet? (Levin)

He also state that there needs to be more confidence for the consumer to purchase these vehicle and not feel as if the charge will not last long enough. Consumers have driven their gas vehicle with confidence knowing that there is always a gas station every few miles or so, but where to they legally plug in to recharge their electric cars?

At the current rate that production is growing for plug-in hybrid and battery-electric vehicles, the U.S. production rate may be a modest ten percent of new vehicles by the year 2020. For Senator Levin this is not an acceptable number. He does believe, however, that we are on the threshold of a "second electric revolution" and he feels the need for a new determination by engineers and scientists to make it happen. They will need to answer the needs that consumers have regarding these vehicles and have acceptable solutions to them.