Last week the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) released a green valuation guide on how to correctly value commercial buildings.
For the first time, valuers are now encouraged to take a more detailed examination of the benefits and impacts of sustainability features in commercial buildings and look at the long-term value.
At the same time, the world’s first sustainability rating system - IS was released by the Australian Green Infrastructure Council. IS is the missing link, providing for infrastructure what Green Star and NABERS provide for buildings and homes.
So why is this important? Read More
We are marking a critical point in the evolutionary change of sustainability in Australia.
A new valuation guide (its available to members only, but read more about it here) designed to ensure the capture of the true value of sustainability over the longer term - highlights how far we have come in implementing and measuring sustainability.
There has been a rapid growth of commercial green building stock across the country over the past decade, and we can thank the plethora of comprehensive sustainability tools for that.
New entrants like Australian Green Infrastructure Council’s new rating tool - IS – are taking us to new levels of sustainability. IS a comprehensive rating system for evaluating the sustainability of infrastructure across design, construction and operation.
Victorian Road’s (VicRoads) INVEST is also a national first - a new tool to assess the sustainability of road projects and set standards for best practice and innovation for both design and construction.
What voluntary ratings tools have done is differentiated and increased property values - adding value to the property owner or the developer. We know a six star building will attract blue chip tenants who will lock in a longer lease and create a higher profile that can attract other tenants.
And now that substantial green building stock has been developed – naturally people want to know the true value of it. This shows the maturing of sustainable buildings and signifies an evolutional change in sustainable buildings.
I predict a sustainability evolution will also occur in the residential property sector within the next two years.
Terry Leckie is one of Australia’s leading water industry experts and a passionate advocate of water reform, championing key changes to legislation and regulation.
Terry is also Founder and CEO of Water Factory Company, Australia’s first private water utility which is creating affordable and sustainable smart water networks. More of his blogs can be found at Water Spectator.
