If it’s not a green building, is it obsolete?

This week’s Barron’s financial weekly has a great story making the business case for green buildings. Basically, if it’s not green it’s obsolete the day it opens.

“Trillions of dollars of commercial property owned by real-estate investment trusts, corporations and other investors around the world will soon become obsolete - and will drop in value,” opens the article by Charles Lockwood, a well known real-estate consultant, in the December 25th Barron’s, America’s definitive financial weekly. Lockwood cites several reasons for this prediction: green buildings have lower operating costs, are more attractive to corporate tenants, produce reduced absenteeism and illnes, enable better employee recruitment and retention, and foster greater productivity. This is exactly the business case for green buildings I set forth in my 2006 book, Developing Green: Strategies for Success, available from NAIOP. Now that the costs of green buildings are falling in line with conventional building costs, is there any reason now for companies and developers not to build green?

Posted by on 12/26/2006 at 01:02 PM