Happy tenants and reduced costs make a business case for green building

March 31, 2015

Sustainable practices have plenty of benefits in terms of protecting the environment, but this perk alone does not make a very persuasive business case for green building. The abundance of research regarding the positive cost and workflow impacts of green building, however, provides a clear incentive for companies to retrofit their existing offices or design their next office space with green building principles in mind. The right sustainable business strategy will help your company to limit its waste and generate greater interest in new tenants. Read on to learn how green building has already helped existing facilities reduce turnover and boost revenue.

Greener buildings lead to more satisfied tenants
Management challenges directly impacted by green building have strong overlap with the issues that have the biggest influence on tenant satisfaction, according to National Real Estate Investor. A Kingsley Associates survey of over 60 facilities in Washington, D.C., revealed that the number of green building strategies applied in a workplace will greatly affect how employees feel about their employers.

Tenants in offices that have taken advantage of green building strategies tend to be happier and more consistent in their daily performance. They also have a more positive opinion on the work they are doing and the people they are working for. Tenants in traditional architecture, by comparison, are much more likely to pack up and move on to the next stop. The long-term advantages of green design strategies can sell a lot of tenants on a sustainable office space before they even set foot in the building.

Facility managers should be aware, however, that maximizing the benefits of green building requires companies to target green solutions that resonate well with customers. For instance, the Kingsley Associates report pointed out that heating and cooling are two of the most important factors that clients consider when evaluating value green solutions. As a result, green HVAC upgrades, like programmable thermostats and thermal storage, can greatly influence the way your company is perceived by customers. Other popular green solutions include efficient envelopes with efficient windows and insulation which reduces thermal heat loss and saves energy. LED lights provide efficient lighting and use less energy. Hybrid cooling with energy storage can shift loads to more efficient less costly and cleaner generation assets and even store renewable energy. All of these practices can reduce the impact on the environment while providing higher value to clients with increased comfort and productivity.

Savings tied to tenant satisfaction
A recent study performed by the U.S. General Services Administration and Pacific Northwest National Lab noted that the cost-effectiveness of green building was observed across 22 government buildings. Each facility was LEED-certified and the study revealed 19 percent savings on operations across the board. These savings were generated by water consumption reductions of 25 percent and lowering of carbon emissions by 36 percent. The client's' customers reported a nearly 30 percent boost in satisfaction over their experience in a standard facility.

Tips for evaluating the benefits of green building
Understanding the benefits of green building for businesses and translating these benefits into quantifiable benchmarks are two very different tasks. It will be easier to communicate the value of green building upgrades to financial decision makers and potential tenants alike if a company has a means of measuring these savings, according to the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce.

The news source also pointed out that many times, potential tenants are more captivated by the aesthetics of green building than by identifying the solution that would provide the most savings for their company. For instance, construction projects that incorporate natural sunlight as a means of offsetting electrical consumption are quite popular, even if other sustainable solutions might provide superior savings in the long term. It's important for companies to research green building projects that best meet the needs of potential tenants in order to maximize the effectiveness of sustainable retrofits.