Does improving sustainability improve value to investors? This seems to be the question that everyone is grappling with at the moment, but this constant quest to identify a green premium is in danger of becoming a red herring for the industry.

We believe that sustainability is just one of a multitude of factors that make up value, and it can be very hard to single out or extrapolate the value attributable to this one factor. Instead, we see sustainability as an integral part of what goes into creating a state-of-the-art building and meeting market expectations. Rather than a rental premium, we are typically seeing evidence of value in improved take-up/shorter voids/higher tenant quality, consistent with the findings of INREV’s September 2010 sustainability report. We believe strongly that these will all drive long-term value and investor returns.

IT ALL