Green Building Can Improve Financial Performance#
Green building can help businesses and institutions increase their financial performance. While green building can cost slightly more in initial costs, the financial benefits are often substantial. One flaw in many financial analysis of green building is that they stop at direct energy savings, neglecting myriad other benefits, such as reduced maintenance and operation costs, increased productivity, lower absenteeism, and others. The list of benefits below illustrates many of the other benefits. Also below are a number of resources to help you determine the true value of green construction and retrofits.
Attraction and Retention of Staff and Tenants:
- Improved reputation/branding
- Increased comfort and well-being of staff and tenants
- Higher employee loyalty
- Recruiting advantages
- Reduced costs of changing space for different user needs
- Fewer tenant/occupant complaints
- Reduced illness and sick days (staff / tenants)
- Reduced tenant turnover
Operational Benefits:
- Reduced operation costs
- Downsizing of mechanical/ plumbing/ electrical/ structural systems
- Reduced callbacks/ change orders
- Reduced construction risk
- More reliable systems
- Reduced risk of building not operating as designed
Financial Benefits:
- Increased property valuations
- Increased demand from tenants / businesses seeking sustainability image/marketing
- Better ability to meet future regulatory requirements
- Limit exposure to utility cost volatility
- Reduced exit/take-out risk
- Reduced risk that the building will lose value due to functional, economic, or physical obsolescence
- Improved access to debt financing
- Lower property/casualty insurance costs
Resources:
Clean Energy Finance Forum - A collection of clean energy and energy efficiency resources and articles produced by Yale University
Green Tenant Toolkit - A set of tools to help owners and tenants pursue green leases
How to Calculate and Present Deep Retrofit Value for Investors and How to Calculate and Present Deep Retrofit Value: A Guide for Owner-Occupants – Rocky Mountain Institute. – These documents help building owners and investors calculate the value of energy retrofits.
Value Beyond Cost Savings: How to Underwrite Sustainable Properties – The Muldavin Company. A free, downloadable guide to integrating value and risk into green building and property decisions.