The Value of sustainability

¹ BREEAM Existing Buildings Team, BRE Global, WD25 9XX, UK
² BREEAM - Operations, Management & Strategic R&D, BRE Global, Watford, WD25 9XX, UK

^* Corresponding author: LewryA@bre.co.uk

Abstract

As the market place becomes increasingly competitive and there is a need to be able to differentiate oneself as a high performer. Andrew Vaughan the CEO of Redevco stated ‘Greening our portfolio over the next two years is not only environmentally the right thing to do, it also makes sound business sense.’Buildings built and/or managed to sustainability standards, such as BREEAM have been shown to minimise risk and generate maximum profit via:

• High and continuous rental income;

• Low operating & maintenance cost;

• Low depreciation.

UK valuers do not think we are paying a premium for green buildings but having to give a discount because the building is not performing well. This gives a convincing business case for new build where the certification process leads to a high-performance building.

However, what about the existing building stock?

Is the operational environmental performance of an asset reflected by its investment performance?

This paper describes a new research project which aims to test the Hypothesis –

Better operational performance in-use leads to improved investment performance of commercial offices. Improved operational performance goes “hand-in-hand” with environmental performance; where the performance can be illustrated by certification and labelling schemes.