New sustainability research is catching the attention of owners and facility managers of Class B and C office buildings.
A 2020 collaborative report from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) simplifies the advantages of implementing energy efficiency and green leasing at two classes of office buildings. The report work was supported with funds provided by the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International and Yardi Systems, Inc.
With Unlocking Hidden Value in Class B/C Office Buildings: Best Practices for Pursuing Low-Cost, High-Impact Energy Efficiency and Green Leasing Strategies, ULI and RMI provide recommendations and real project profiles sourced from primary and secondary research, including insights from Class B and C office practitioners shared throughout the 30-page report.
The findings will appeal to owners contemplating modest upgrades for energy cost savings, and to other owners motivated to reposition a Class B or C asset into an A property, by incorporating renewable energy systems into comprehensive capital improvements.
The classification of office properties, it has been said, is highly subjective. For purposes of clarity, the report unfolds with the general rule of thumb that, as compared to their Class A counterparts, Class B and Class C office buildings ordinarily are older in effective age with fewer of the latest technologies in place.
Class B/C are not making as much progress as Class A assets on capturing financial and other benefits of energy efficiency and green leasing — but they also have the most to gain, by focusing on low-cost, high-impact strategies.
The authors found that building owners avoided action on improvements and practices in sustainability due to three core challenges associated with the ownership of Class B and C properties: information constraints, resource constraints and funding constraints.
The top obstacles preventing the adaptation of energy efficiency in Class B and C are:
- Limited working capital to pay for project costs (60%)
- Limited staff capacity to implement (47%)
- Low priority versus other business activities (40%).
The constraints are taken into account within the report’s eight implementation strategies for owners. The findings and recommendations in Unlocking Hidden Value in Class B/C Office Buildings may finally reach those building owners and operators, who’ve wanted an opportunity to adopt one or more energy efficiency strategies and green leasing provisions.
By: Tom Pfister (Forbes)
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