Tenants Report Being Much Happier in Green Buildings

March 12, 2015- A new study is one of the first to find a strong link between tenant happiness and building sustainability. Since landlords want to keep tenants in buildings, the findings will no doubt drive investment in green upgrades and sustainability that can boost a building’s retention rate and performance, said the study’s authors.

As part of the study, DTZ Vice President, Sustainability Services, Allison Porter and DTZ Economist Rebecca Rockey evaluated responses to Kingsley Associates' tenant surveys -- the industry standard in measuring tenant satisfaction -- relative to common sustainability certifications.

The study examined three building certifications: the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (LEED EB), EPA's ENERGY STAR and the Office of Management and Budget's Sustainability and Energy Scorecard. They analyzed 61 office buildings in the Washington, D.C., region and found:

• Buildings with at least one sustainability certification had an average Kingsley score 7 points higher than buildings with no certifications.

• Buildings with one certification had slightly higher Kingsley tenant satisfaction scores than those with no certifications, while buildings with two or more certifications had significantly higher scores.

• ENERGY STAR buildings' Kingsley scores averaged 30 points higher than non-ENERGY STAR.

• LEED EB buildings' Kingsley scores averaged 10 points better than buildings without a LEED EB certification.

• The OMB Sustainability and Energy Scorecard did not have a statistically significant impact on tenant satisfaction scores.

Read the full globest.com post here.

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