The National Association of REALTORS® recently conducted a survey, REALTORS® & Sustainability: Commercial Report, among REALTORS® to gauge their interest in and understanding of sustainability within the commercial real estate sector.
Whether you’re immersed in commercial real estate or considering adding it to your business offerings in 2024, the research provides essential insight that increases your understanding of sustainability trends and client preferences.
Here are 10 key statistics you can incorporate into presentations, marketing materials, and during client discussions.
1. Value of energy efficiency promotion in commercial listings – Most agents (65%) said that energy efficiency promotion in listings was very or somewhat valuable.
2. Green building certifications – Respondents were most familiar with:
• LEED (66%)
• ENERGY STAR for buildings (51%)
• IREM Certified Sustainable Property (14%)
• BOMA 360 Performance Program (15%)
3. Commercial property values – Thirty-nine percent of REALTORS® said buildings with green certifications, such as LEED, Green Globes, or the Living Building Challenge, had increased commercial property values. However, 33% said buildings with green certifications had no effect on commercial property values.
4. Commercial building repurposing: Thirty-five percent of brokerage firms had experience working with commercial building repurposing, such as converting empty malls into technical schools. More than half (54%) had no experience with commercial building repurposing.
5. Building features REALTORS® believed were most important to clients included:
• Utility and operations costs (34%)
• Indoor air quality (22%)
• Energy-efficient windows/doors (20%)
• Efficient use of lighting (13%)
• Impact of extreme weather events (such as drought, heat and wildfires, flooding, hurricanes (16%)
• Smart/Connected building (10%)
6. Comfort with clients’ questions about building performance – More than half (52%) of respondents were extremely comfortable or comfortable answering clients’ questions about building performance.
7. Market issues and considerations agents and brokers listed as important included:
• Improving the energy efficiency on existing buildings (46%)
• Lack of property data about building performance history (41%)
• Valuation of solar panels on a building (31%)
• Understanding lending options for sustainable properties (30%)
• Valuation of green/sustainability certified buildings (27%)
• Understanding how solar panels’ impact on the transaction (27%)
8. Buildings’ sustainable and green features
Either as a landlord or tenant representative, 15 percent of respondents had requests from prospective tenants in an RFP or other pre-LOI documents asking for a building’s sustainability certifications, green building features, or energy rating.
Among those respondents who requested documents, 79 percent were energy efficiency information, 49 percent requested recycling program information, and 41 percent asked for green certification information.
9. Financing Building Improvements – Fourteen percent of respondents had clients ask for advice on financing sustainability or energy efficiency building improvements.
• Among options for financing energy efficiency or renewable energy investments, respondents were most familiar with the following:
• PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) ( 18%)
• PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) (10%)
• ESA (Energy Services Agreement) (9%)
10. Energy Efficiency Incentives and Requirements
Of the incentives and rebates available, respondents were most commonly aware of were:
• Utility rebates (54%)
• Federal tax incentives (43%)
• State tax incentives (33%)
Read the Full Report Here
