Green Buildings – Bring Higher Rent

A recent study, Doing Well By Doing Good? Green Office Buildings, has shown that green buildings are paying off big, and not just by the carbon offsets measurement. They have higher occupancies rates, primarily due to the higher quality materials and architecture that has gone into making them, which is making them a profitable option for all sectors of development.

The carbon footprint of a building is much bigger than any individuals will ever be. Designing LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings can greatly reduce this footprint which in turn reduces the resources needed to maintain the building. With design aspects that include natural lighting and energy efficient heating and cooling, building owners have been able to leverage these savings for both themselves and their occupants.

The study above has shown that green buildings are bringing in an average of 6% more rent than there non-green neighbors. Ask anyone in commercial real estate and they will tell you that 6% is an enormous margin and is well worth the processes of greening up an existing building or implementing them from the start for new construction.