Green Building on the Rise in the Commercial Sector
Green building in commercial office space continues to grow, according to a new CBRE study.
The 2017 National Green Building Adoption Index shows that the percentage of commercial office space that has been certified as “green” or “efficient” by LEED or Energy Star certification now stands at 38% across 30 office markets in the United States. That’s an increase from less than 5% in 2005.
After placing second last year, the Chicago building market claimed the top spot with 66% of its commercial space qualified as “green” certified. San Francisco slipped to second, while Atlanta, Houston and Minneapolis again claimed spots in the top five in the 2017 report.
According to the report, this long-term growth in certified buildings shows continued interest in energy efficiency and sustainability in the built environment.
The National Green Building Adoption Index is published annually by CBRE, in partnership with Maastricht University, to measure the growth and uptake of energy efficiency and sustainability in buildings. Other collaborators include the U.S. Green Building Council, CBRE Research and the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT).
Other noteworthy findings from the study are included in a recent USGBC blog post on this topic.