Jones Lang LaSalle acquires Green Globes developer; strategic move or desperation?

In a story widely followed last week, Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL) acquired the developer of the Green Globes rating tool. Is this a clever strategic move or a desperate attempt to catch up to or circumvent the move by the largest industry player CB Richard Ellis (NYSE: CBG) to dominate the LEED for Existing Buildings system?

According to the story in the CoStar Green Report, Green Globes for Existing Buildings was adopted in 2004 by the Building Owners and Managers Association of Canada (BOMA Canada) and renamed “Go Green Plus.” JLL plays the acquisition of Green Globes as a way to quickly assess its real estate portfolio in sustainability terms and then to determine whether to pursue LEED certification for individual properties. JLL also talks about linking Green Globes to the ENERGY STAR rating system. However, if one really wants to benchmark sustainable operations, and particularly to consider other issues than just energy use, there is no better tool than LEED. I don’t think that the marketplace is going to see this as a credible move, particularly large corporate real estate departments who are seeking green office space. What I do think the acquisition demonstrates is that green building operations are the next frontier in the green building movement. This is seen also in the rapid growth of LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) registrations in 2007 and 2008. From a 2006 year-end total of 244 project registrations, by the end of May 2008, LEED-EB projects underway numbered 1,277, a fivefold increase in less than 18 months! As part of this growth, CBRE has itself submitted more than 200 LEED-EB project registrations, according to company sources.

Posted by on 07/13/2008 at 07:46 AM