April 13, 2009—Corporate real estate (CRE) executives in the Asia Pacific region are more willing than their global counterparts to continue investing in sustainability despite the tighter economic environment, although sustainability is increasingly critical to CRE executives worldwide, according to the second global sustainability survey conducted jointly by Jones Lang LaSalle and CoreNet Global.
The survey shows that while more than 40 percent of respondents globally were still willing to pay some rental premium to occupy a sustainable building, this is a drop from the 70 percent recorded in the 2007 survey. However, 60 percent of respondents in Asia Pacific would pay up to 10 percent more rent to occupy a sustainable building, an increase from 55 percent in 2007. While only 6 percent would consider paying more than a 10 percent premium, a drop from 12percent in 2007, this is still double the global average of 3 percent.
Asia Pacific respondents were also more willing to pay more to retrofit existing space. Globally, 50 percent of respondents said that they would pay up to 10 percent more to retrofit existing space. However, in Asia Pacific the majority (30 percent) would pay a premium of between 5-10percent while globally the majority (33 percent) would pay a premium of only 1-5percent. An additional 13 percent of respondents in Asia Pacific would consider paying a premium of over 10 percent to retrofit existing space.
“The willingness to pay more in Asia Pacific may be partly attributed to the perception that sustainable solutions are hard to find in markets that are less ‘mature’,” says Chris Wallbank, Asia Pacific Head of Energy and Sustainability Services at Jones Lang LaSalle. “What is interesting from the survey results is that most of the respondents have the view that sustainable solutions are increasingly hard to find across the world.”
More than 400 corporate real estate executives across the globe participated in this second global sustainability survey undertaken in September and October 2008 by Jones Lang LaSalle and CoreNet Global. Copies of the report are available from Jones Lang LaSalle.
