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Sustainability in Corporate Real Estate is Going Mainstream in Most Large Companies, International Survey Says |
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CoreNet Global/Jones Lang LaSalle poll finds corporations embrace energy conservation despite costs |
Building and maintaining a green office tower may require extra time and effort, but corporate respondents to a unique international survey, being released today, say they are prepared to overcome the obstacles and embrace sustainable practices with open arms.
CoreNet Global, an international association of workplace and corporate real estate executives, and Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE:JLL) , a leading real estate service provider, queried more than 2300 attendees of CoreNet Global Summits on four continents in recent months. Together, they learned that a large majority of companies around the world view sustainability as critical to their business and are willing to pay a premium to help their companies become more sustainable.
Four hundred and fourteen industry professionals at CoreNet Global Summits in London, Melbourne, Denver and Singapore took the watershed survey called, "Sustainability Perceptions and Trends in the Corporate Real Estate Industry." Over 2300 were queried for an 18% response rate.
CoreNet Global and Jones Lang LaSalle found that, for an overwhelming 79% of respondents, sustainability is a near-term business issue that's important today, or will be in the next 1-2 years.
"As a result of this survey, it's crystal clear to us that a focus on sustainability has become important to the Fortune 500 and similar companies around the world," says Eric Bowles Vice President and Director of Research for CoreNet Global.
"These findings reinforce what we are hearing from clients every day: more and more companies are recognizing the business case for sustainability, and their corporate real estate departments are charged with making it happen to a large extent," said Ben Breslau, Vice President, Director of Occupier Research at Jones Lang LaSalle.
According to the survey, most companies are willing to pay for sustainable real estate solutions. According to the findings:
• 77% are willing to pay a premium for sustainability
• 22% expect to pay the same
But there's also a gap between what sustainable real estate solutions actually cost and the perception of what they will cost. Studies indicate that designing buildings energy efficiently, or building them to LEED (R) certification will cost about 1-5% more than conventional construction, and the incremental cost is falling.
Many companies still don't realize that the cost of sustainability has come down. A large proportion of respondents thought sustainable designs were more expensive that they really are. Respondents' perceptions varied widely:
• 52% say premiums will be 5% or more to build in a sustainable manner, 22% of them believe green buildings will cost 10% more than conventional building
• 38% said sustainable buildings will cost 1-5% more, and
• 1% say it's actually less expensive, while
• 8% said those buildings will cost the same
Despite the opportunity to apply techniques to make buildings more environmentally friendly, respondents to the CoreNet Global/Jones Lang LaSalle survey found obstacles to sustainability that have hindered widespread adoption:
• Only 17% said that there is good, or widely available, sustainable real estate solutions in markets where their companies need to locate offices
• 42% reported patchiness and said the supply chain is good in some markets but not others
• 41% view overall availability as limited or minimal
While sustainable building is becoming more critical the world over, its intensity varies from continent to continent. According to the results:
• 61% of respondents in Europe feel sustainability is a critical business now
• 53% feel that way in Australia, while
• Only 44% of respondents who attended the Denver Global Summit feel that sustainability is critical now
"We have passed the tipping point for sustainability, and the question is no longer about whether sustainable design should be considered. The question will be, how do you explain why you chose not to have a sustainable design," says Bowles of CoreNet Global.
"Sustainability is not a passing fad. It's a business imperative from Australia to Hong Kong and from the U.S. to Germany," adds Jones Lang LaSalle's Breslau.
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Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels is a world's leader in delivering exceptional, fully integrated real estate services dedicated to the hotel and tourism sector. |
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