November 26, 2008—Despite a faltering economy, commercial building owners are continuing to allocate funds and resources to green their portfolios. According to the “2008 Green Survey: Existing Buildings,” the second annual national survey of the commercial real estate sector, more than 80 percent of respondents have allocated funds to green initiatives this year, while 45 percent said that their sustainability investment will increase in 2009.
Findings of the study by Incisive Media’s Real Estate Forum, the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International and the US Green Building Council were released at Greenbuild 2008, the annual conference and expo sponsored by the USGBC. Complete reporting on the survey appears in the November issue of Real Estate Forum magazine, online at GlobeSt.com and in the January/February 2009 issue of The BOMA Magazine.
Other findings included the following:
- Energy conservation is the most widely implemented green program in respondent properties, followed by recycling, water conservation and ENERGY STAR product programs.
- 60 percent of those polled offer educational programs to assist tenants in implementing green programs, up from 49.4 percent last year.
- Almost 70 percent of survey respondents have implemented some type of benchmarking system to monitor energy usage and efficiency, while 80 percent say that their energy efficiency efforts have helped defray rising energy costs.
- Almost 65 percent of respondents feel that their green investments have generated a positive ROI, up from 60.8 percent in 2007
To obtain a copy of the complete survey and results, see the GlobeSt.com Web site.
