Doing Well by Doing Good?
14 April 2009
Analysis of the financial performance of green office buildings in the USA The construction of sustainable buildings is encouraged by institutions and researchers worldwide. But is there a real financial benefit for investors and developers in building “green”?

A clear evidence of “green” buildings having a higher economic performance when sold or rented was given by a recent study commissioned by the British Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), and carried out by researchers from Maastricht University and the University of California, Berkeley.
The study analysed 900 US buildings with Energy Star certification (which considers the energy consumption) and/or LEED certification (which takes into account also a wide range of factors such as “site selection”, “brownfield redevelopment”, or the availability of “bicycle storage and changing rooms”) and compared them with conventional buildings.
The results proved that office buildings with an Energy Star certificate attracted rental premiums of 3% per square feet compared with "non-green buildings" of the same size, location and function. When looking at effective rents, the premium for energy efficient buildings was still higher, with Energy Star buildings attracting over 6% more than conventional buildings. In addition, green buildings were even more attractive to buyers, securing a premium of around 16% when sold.
No premium was instead found for LEED-rated buildings. This suggests that tenants and investors are willing to pay more for an energy-efficient building, but not yet for buildings that are “sustainable” in a broader sense.

For more information and to download the study please visit"
 

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