Earlier this fall, in a blog entitled "Give Me ‘Smart’ Shelter", I discussed building envelopes and the push for “smart” buildings—an option made especially viable thanks to ARRA funds earmarked for energy efficiency projects. And while there may not be many new construction projects coming down the pipeline, retrofitting existing structures can still give us a big bang for our buck. That’s because older structures were not always built with an eye towards energy efficiency. By addressing many of the energy sinkholes that plague hospitals, educational facilities, airports, and office buildings throughout the country, we can mitigate some occupant complaints while reducing energy demand.
And as we all know, energy efficiency is an effective way to cut costs and increase profitability—which is why corporate real estate executives are embracing smart building retrofits. According to a recent report by CNN Money, 74% of corporate real estate companies responding to a 2009 CoreNet Global and Jones Lang LaSalle sustainability survey indicated that they plan on investing in energy and sustainability for their properties.
Some more interesting results of the survey:
* 70% of corporate real estate executives said that sustainability is a critical business issue for CRE today.
* 89% consider sustainability criteria in making leasing decisions.
* 46% always consider energy labels (such as Energy Star or HPE).
* 4% always consider green building certifications (such as LEED).
* 74% are willing to premium (generally 1–5%) to retrofit owned space for sustainability criteria.
Of course, the survey did reveal that behind this willingness to embrace efficiency and sustainability standards, concerns over funding and implementation exist. More than half of the respondents pointed to a lack of standardized industry metrics to calculate ROI. And many of the respondents pointed out that there are few effective tools for collecting performance data. As Dan Probst, Chairman of Energy and Sustainability at Jones Lang LaSalle, pointed out, “Companies are looking for help in making targeted sustainability investment decisions and measuring the results in terms of both environmental and financial performance. Clarification of industry metrics globally, tools that collect data and turn it into information, and clear methodologies for calculating project ROI will be critical to overcoming these challenges."
So what do you think? Can standards help in this situation? And does it make sense to focus on energy efficiency retrofits for existing buildings when implementation costs may negate any energy savings?
You can see a copy of the survey here and on CoreNet Global’s Web site at www.corenetglobal.org.