CBRE Study Finds Significant Gap between Large and Small Office Buildings in Green Adoption in the U.S.
June 24 2015 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
62% of large buildings qualify as green,
compared to less than 5% of small buildings
San Francisco closing in on Minneapolis in
green market rankings
Owners of small buildings have an opportunity to differentiate
themselves by implementing energy-efficient practices, due to a
significant gap between large and small office buildings in
achieving sustainability certification, according to a new study by
CBRE Group, Inc. and Maastricht University.
The 2015 Green Building Adoption Index, a joint project of CBRE
and Maastricht, found that 62.1 percent of office buildings in the
U.S. greater than 500,000 square feet are considered “green”
(holding either an EPA ENERGY STAR label, U.S. Green Building
Council (USGBC) full-building LEED certification or both). In
contrast, only 4.5 percent of all U.S. office buildings less than
100,000 square feet qualified as green.
“Our 2015 study confirmed that green building adoption has been
primarily a big building, first-tier city phenomenon,” said David
Pogue, CBRE’s global director of corporate responsibility. “It
would appear that many smaller buildings in the majority of large
markets still have an opportunity to be ‘best in class’ among their
peer set by achieving these certifications.”
Minneapolis led the city ranking for the second consecutive
year, with 70.4 percent of all office space currently qualified as
green, down from 77.0 percent in 2014. San Francisco, again in
second place, significantly closed the gap and now boasts a 70.0
percent green market, up from 67.2 percent in 2014. Chicago, at
63.4 percent, was third, while Atlanta (57.8 percent) and Houston
(52.9 percent) swapped positions at fourth and fifth. The top 10
cities on the 2014 list all retained a place on the 2015 list.
The overall results of the study show that the uptake of green
building practices in the 30 largest U.S. cities continues to be
significant, but that the growth is slowing. At the end of the
fourth quarter of 2014, 13.1 percent of the commercial building
stock had an ENERGY STAR label, LEED certification, or both,
compared to 13.8 percent at the end of 2013. Measured by size, the
amount of certified commercial space also decreased from 39.3
percent in 2013 to 38.7 percent at the end of 2014.
“This decrease does not imply that buildings are starting to
perform worse than before. Rather, it reflects the fact that only a
certain fraction of the building stock can obtain a green or
energy-efficiency certification,” said Dr. Nils Kok, associate
professor in Finance and Real Estate, Maastricht University (NL).
“Additionally, it appears that some of the buildings that were
previously certified did not renew their certification in 2014.
This does not necessarily mean that the energy use of these
buildings has changed, but that some owners and managers choose not
to spend the time or expense to reapply for certification every
year.”
Executed in close collaboration with the USGBC and CBRE
Research, this is the second release of the annual Green Building
Adoption Index. Based on a rigorous methodology, the Index shows
the growth of ENERGY STAR- and LEED-certified space for the 30
largest U.S. office markets, both in aggregate and in individual
markets, over the previous 10 years.
2015 Green Building Adoption
Index
Top 5 Green Office Markets
Market 2015 Rank 2015 %
2014 Rank 2014 % Minneapolis 1
70.4 1 77.0 San Francisco 2 70.0 2 67.2 Chicago 3
63.4 3 62.1 Atlanta 4 57.8 5 54.1 Houston 5 52.9 4 54.8
About CBRE Group, Inc.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500
company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest
commercial real estate services and investment firm (in terms of
2014 revenue). The Company has more than 52,000 employees
(excluding affiliates), and serves real estate owners, investors
and occupiers through more than 370 offices (excluding affiliates)
worldwide. CBRE offers strategic advice and execution for property
sales and leasing; corporate services; property, facilities and
project management; mortgage banking; appraisal and valuation;
development services; investment management; and research and
consulting. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.
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CBRE Group, Inc.Christy
Ingle949.725.8591christy.ingle@cbre.comorCorey
Mirman212.984.6542corey.mirman@cbre.com
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