New study ranks top 25 U.S. markets in opportunity for green building

New York, NY/Portland, Ore. - San Francisco leads the 25 largest office markets for green opportunities, according to a study just released by global real estate company Cushman & Wakefield, in collaboration with the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance's (NEEA) BetterBricks initiative.

The Green Building Opportunity Index is the first office market assessment tool to provide weighted comparisons of top U.S. office markets on the basis of both real estate fundamentals and green development considerations. The Index focuses on the primary factors that influence successful development, retro-fitting, leasing and sales of investment grade "green" office buildings in the 25 largest U.S. Central Business Districts (CBDs). It compares a market's relative position to its peers in six categories: Office Market Conditions, Investment Outlook, Green Adoption & Implementation, Local Mandates & Incentives, State Energy Initiatives and Green Culture.

The Green Building Opportunity Index comes on the heels of the EPA's just-released list of Top 25 U.S. cities for energy efficient buildings, with many of the same cities on both lists. The EPA ranking, however, lists only the number of Energy Star-labeled buildings in each city. Cushman & Wakefield and NEEA's Green Building Opportunity Index ranks each market on dozens of different factors, in addition to the number of Energy Star labeled and LEED certified buildings.

The Green Building Opportunity Index's top 12 markets overall:

1) San Francisco                     7) Downtown New York
2) Oakland                             8) Washington, D.C.
3) Midtown New York               9) San Diego
4) Los Angeles                       10) Boston
5) Chicago                            11) Seattle
6) Orange County                   12) Portland, Ore.

"These results highlight the importance of both public and private entities considering market economic opportunities hand-in-hand with the incentives, policies and cultural considerations that are critical for green building," said Theddi Wright Chappell, managing director and national practice leader of Cushman & Wakefield's national green building and sustainability practice. "If it's not financially sustainable, it's not sustainable."

As a tool to examine the overall "climate" for green building, the Index will help a broad spectrum of professionals determine where the favorable conditions exist for green buildings. Investment/pension fund managers and developers can use this data to consider where to put their money and why. City policy makers, utility staff and planners can examine the data to understand what new policies and incentives might be useful to accelerate green building activity. Building owners, architects and green building consultants can determine where green development brings competitive advantages, or where it is simply an emerging standard.

"No one has ever done this before," said Jack Davis, market manager for office real estate for NEEA's BetterBricks initiative, which collaborated with Cushman & Wakefield on the Index. "This is the first study that meshes real estate market data with green building policy, incentive and cultural data. Green does not occur in a vacuum, and this research highlights many of the market features and conditions that can accelerate or impede green building adoption," Davis added.
"We found it remarkable that a city's ranking was very sensitive to policy movements during the time period we were working on this report. There is a great deal of intense interest in green building, and with a region such as New York City passing legislation at the end of the year requiring benchmarking and energy audits in buildings over a certain size, we noticed a domino effect in terms of green building activity. I would expect the Index to look significantly different in a year given all the policy proposals we are seeing," Davis said.

"We're hopeful that as people read this and find value in what we've done, there will be demand for a second phase for the data," Chappell added. "For example, there are other cities and questions to explore, such as what's the role of transit-oriented development in green building?"

Green Building Opportunity Index Profile Report on Midtown New York
In addition to producing the Green Building Opportunity Index, the study also created a Profile Report on one of the top 25 markets, Midtown New York. This offers a detailed look at a number of green factors specific to midtown New York, including a green office index, office market statistics, significant lease transactions, major investment sales, review of LEED certified and Energy Star labeled buildings, a look at mandates and incentives and more.

What others are saying about the Green Building Opportunity Index:

Uwe Brandes, Vice President, Initiatives, ULI (Urban Land Institute), (202) 624-7134, uwe.brandes@uli.org "This index marries real estate economics with green design metrics and is a constructive next step in shedding light on the triple bottom line of sustainable development."

Doug Gatlin, Vice President, Commercial Market Development, U.S. Green Building Council,
(202) 587-7182, dgatlin@usgbc.org

"Knowledge is key to green building success, and the information available from the Green Building Opportunity Index will give real estate professionals the knowledge they need to discover the value green buildings can provide in their markets. And because sustainability must be built into the fabric of our communities, this important tool will foster a deeper dialog about how our cities and communities can realize the economic, environmental and health benefits of green buildings."

Christian Gunter, Vice President, Kennedy USA, (206) 623-4739, mailto:christiang@kennedyusa.comchristiang@kennedyusa.com
"The Sustainable Index provides real estate investors with key green building metrics in addition to economic and market considerations to identify strategic green building investment opportunities."

Scott Muldavin, President, The Muldavin Company and Executive Director, Green Building Finance Consortium, (415) 499-4400, smuldavin@muldavin.com
"Green building finally has a place at the investment table, with its own index highlighting key market indicators critical to the valuation of sustainable property" No longer do you have to wonder if regulators and people in the market really care about ?green property investment;" the Green Opportunity Index has the answers!"

Top cities in each of the six categories
The Green Building Opportunity Index ranks each of the 25 markets on a scale comprised of six main categories. In addition to the overall ranking of those 25 markets, there are rankings for each of the six individual categories as well.

The Office Market Conditions category assesses current market fundamentals, incorporating a combination of metrics including rent, vacancy, leasing activity and absorption. Top three markets in this category: Minneapolis, Orange County and Houston.

The Investment Outlook category displays forecasted future conditions through the application of Cushman & Wakefield?s proprietary forecasting methodology, which includes forecasted rent growth, employment growth and incoming supply. Top three markets in this category: San Francisco, Boston and Midtown South New York.

The Green Adoption & Implementation category includes total square footage of LEED certified CBD office space, total square footage of Energy Star, number of LEED accredited professionals per capita and more. Top three markets in this category: Chicago, Denver and Washington, D.C.

The Local Mandates & Incentives category assesses a municipality's commitment to sustainable building practices, including state, county and city laws; energy incentives and availability of direct funding. Top three markets in this category: Midtown New York, Downtown New York and Midtown South New York.

The State Energy Initiatives category ranks the effectiveness of state energy policies as measured by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). Top three markets in this category: San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles.

The Green Culture category measures a region?s cultural attitudes and commitment to green and sustainable practices. Data from Sustain Lane, "the largest online resource for going green" that ranks a city's performance in 16 different areas, was analyzed and ranked relative to its influence on commercial real estate. Top three markets in this category: Downtown New York, Portland and Miami.

About Cushman & Wakefield
Cushman & Wakefield is the world's largest privately-held commercial real estate services
firm. Founded in 1917, it has 231 offices in 58 countries and more than 13,000 employees.
The firm represents a diverse customer base ranging from small businesses to Fortune
500 companies. It offers a complete range of services within five primary disciplines:
Transaction Services, including tenant and landlord representation in office, industrial
and retail real estate; Capital Markets, including property sales, investment management,
investment banking, debt and equity financing; Client Solutions, including integrated
real estate strategies for large corporations and property owners; Consulting Services,
including business and real estate consulting; and Valuation & Advisory Services, including
appraisals, highest and best use analysis, dispute resolution and litigation support, along
with specialized expertise in various industry sectors. A recognized leader in global real
estate research, the firm publishes a broad array of proprietary reports available on its
online Knowledge Center at www.cushmanwakefield.com.

About BetterBricks
BetterBricks is the commercial building initiative of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, which is supported by regional electric utilities. Through its BetterBricks initiative, NEEA advocates for changes to energy-related business practices in Northwest commercial buildings. In this effort, NEEA, headquartered in Portland, Ore. and covering the four Northwest states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, collaborates with industry leaders to provide resources to increase office real estate value and profitability through reduced energy use and operating costs. On www.betterbricks.com/office find information, tools, training and resources to help buildings make a difference to the bottom line.

NOTE TO MEDIA: To access the six-page Green Building Opportunity Index, as well as the study's first comprehensive market profile on Midtown New York, click here Cushman & Wakefield Green Building Index, or here, BetterBricks Green Building Index. Individuals will be able to order in-depth market profile information about the 24 other markets listed in the Index for a fee. Study authors completed the New York City market profile as an example of the detail that will be provided for other specific city profiles.