Corporate real estate (CRE) executives, whose companies drive demand for office space, are increasingly willing to invest in refurbishing their owned assets to meet sustainability goals, according to the results of the 2009 CoreNet Global and Jones Lang LaSalle sustainability survey.
In a survey of CRE executives responsible for real estate portfolios totaling billions of square feet across the globe, 70 percent said that sustainability is a critical business issue for CRE today.
A significant 89 percent consider sustainability criteria in making leasing decisions, with 46 percent always considering energy labels (such as Energy Star or HPE), and 41 always considering green building certifications (such as LEED, BREEAM, IEMA, NABERS Energy, Green Star, GreenMark or CASBEE).
Even though obtaining funds to implement sustainability strategies is a difficult or an extremely difficult challenge for 67 percent of respondents, 74 percent would pay a premium (generally 1–5 percent) to retrofit owned space for sustainability criteria, up from 53 percent in 2008.
Although most executives view sustainability as a priority, only 37 percent would consider paying a premium rent (between 1-10 percent), and another 21 percent indicated that they would only be willing to pay a premium rent if it was offset by lower operating costs.
CoreNet Global and Jones Lang LaSalle 2009 sustainability survey key findings
• Sustainability is a critical business issue today for 70% of respondents and 89% consider sustainability criteria in their location decisions
• Green building certifications are always considered by 41% and energy labels by 46% in administering their portfolio
• 74% say they are willing to pay a premium to retrofit space that they own for sustainability criteria
• 21% would only pay more rent for sustainable space if offset by lower operating costs, while 8% expect to pay less and 34% the same
• 60% are adopting workplace strategies to meet sustainability goals while reducing overall occupancy costs
“These results clearly show that sustainability as an issue is here to stay, but companies are increasingly aware of the commercial realities,” said Chris Wallbank, Head of Energy and Sustainability Services, Asia Pacific at Jones Lang LaSalle. “It is no longer enough to simply be ‘green’; organizations want to see the benefits to the bottom line.”
“The survey results show that corporate real estate executives continue to be very focused on sustainability,” said Michael Anderson, Research Manager at CoreNet Global. “Despite the economic challenges of the past year, more than a third of corporate real estate executives would consider paying extra for a green lease, and nearly three-quarters would pay to retrofit properties they own.”
The focus on cost reductions is seen in the 60 percent that are adopting workplace strategies to meet sustainability goals while reducing overall occupancy costs, up from 54 percent in 2008. CRE executives also continue to focus on strategies that are easy to implement and provide short-term cost savings, such as energy efficiency programs and waste recycling.
In terms of metrics, companies want to see bottom-line outcomes, with energy costs ranked as the most important portfolio metric by 37 percent followed by employee health and productivity at 29 percent, and 45 percent are highly involved in providing sustainability performance data.
However, making targeted investments in sustainability initiatives can be challenging. More than 50 percent said that insufficient industry metrics, difficulty in calculating ROI and lack of tools for collecting necessary performance data are difficult or extremely difficult challenges.
“Companies are looking for help in making targeted sustainability investment decisions and measuring the results in terms of both environmental and financial performance,” Wallbank said “Clarification of industry metrics globally, tools that collect data and turn it into information, and clear methodologies for calculating project ROI will be critical to overcoming these challenges.”
The global survey of 231 corporate real estate executives was conducted in September and October 2009. A copy of the summary report is available an Jones Lang LaSalle’s web site at http://www.joneslanglasalle.com/pages/SustainabilityResearch.aspx and on CoreNet Global’s website at www.corenetglobal.org
