Green buildings in demand

Sustainability is more important to occupiers of buildings than developers think, a new report has claimed. It found that business were willing to pay 10% more in rent for more efficient buildings.

As a result, unsustainable commercial office buildings are set plummet in value, according to the report from design consultant Gensler. It warned that such properties would be hit by new EU legislation exposing their lack of green credentials.

The report found that 27% of companies’ property-related energy consumption could be saved by making offices more sustainable - this equates to £155m wasted a year.

It said 72% of company property directors “believe that their business is picking up the bill for badly designed, inefficient buildings.” More than a quarter of them added that bad office stock was actually damaging the productivity of their business.

Chris Johnson, managing principal at Gensler, said: “There is a perception that there is no demand for sustainable buildings. As a result (developers) lack the incentive to commission greener buildings. Our research shows that this pessimism is misplaced.”