News Brief

Sustainability Survey Suggests Green Office Space is Valuable

Half of corporate tenants were willing to pay higher rent for higher-performing buildings.

Fifty percent of corporate real estate executives were willing to pay higher rent for green office space in 2010—up 13% from 2009—according to the fourth annual international Sustainability Survey conducted by CoreNet Global and Jones Lang LaSalle. That number jumps to 73% when you add executives who said they would pay more if the cost were offset by lower energy bills. Nearly 50% would pay up to 10% more for sustainable office space, while only 2% would pay more than 10%. Of those surveyed, 92% consider sustainability criteria when choosing their location; 31% of corporate executives consider employee productivity and health their top sustainability concern. Dan Probst, chairman of energy and sustainability services at Jones Lang LaSalle, commented, “Five years ago, a corporate real estate executive might have thought sustainability was a costly way to make the company look good to employees. Two years ago, that same executive probably focused on energy management as a way to save money in the short run. Today, he or she may be pursuing green strategies that enhance employee productivity.”

 

 

Published March 30, 2011

Emily, C. (2011, March 30). Sustainability Survey Suggests Green Office Space is Valuable. Retrieved from https://www.buildinggreen.com/newsbrief/sustainability-survey-suggests-green-office-space-valuable

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Comments

April 1, 2011 - 9:54 am

Emily, thanks for the summary. It seems that executives are starting to "get it" because the energy case is difficult to argue if there's a reasonable payback period. We're finding that most firm executives are compelled by the idea that better business practices -- such as incentivizing employee innovation, saving on energy costs, and generally institutionalizing processes across a firm -- are both good for profitability and lead to more sustainable projects. That's the thinking behind the Sustainable Performance Certification program: www.greenroundtable.org/certification.