With LEED certified projects growing in popularity, green can be a major selling point to investors and tenants alike. These initiatives not only offer significant and measurable savings in terms of energy usage, but contribute to the health and well being of the people who live and work in your project, so green messaging is very important.
A list of top green building trends for 2011 is provided by Green building consultant, Jerry Yudelson and Tom Breunig, director of marketing, of Earth Advantage Institute.
Despite all the headlines, and a bit of hype, in the world of commercial real estate, the number of green buildings is relatively very small and not growing at a significant rate. Only 2% of all new building construction projects receive LEED certification. Lets look at reasons why building sustainability is stalling and what can be done.
Green buildings provide long-term savings and solid returns on investments. they also command much more than similar non-LEED buildings due to the economic benefits they offer. Soon Class A office buildings that do not attain LEED certification will see their property value decline as LEED becomes the de facto benchmark in measuring quality in construction.
