Appraising Green in Vancouver

property valuation in the U.K. and Canada).

Real estate appraisal standards are governed in the U.S. by the Appraisal Foundation; worldwide, the U.K.’s Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is the most prominent organization. Both organizations support the accord. “To the extent that sustainability is either legislated or used in the market or is part of everyday life, it gets captured” in existing standards governed by those groups, according to Chris Corps, president of Asset Strategics, of Victoria, B.C., and past chair of RICS. The Vancouver initiative will look more thoroughly at more innovative green building practices, said Corps, where “translation to value is unclear.”