The Green Bottom Line: "People, Planet and Profit"

Sustainable Success... Last week's Dispatch, Is Green Good for Real Estate?, generated many interesting comments. It sounds like our industry is changing.

Doug Bardwell reports that Forest City Enterprises considers Sustainability a core value. According to CEO Charles Ratner, Forest City balances Sustainability across three factors (the Three P's): "People (social systems), Planet (environment) and Profit (economic)."

James Finlay at Wells Fargo Real Estate Technical Services in Los Angeles likes the research of Greg Kats at Capital E documenting the "productivity gains of sustainable, quality design" [click "Publications" to download ] and the McGraw-Hill Construction Green Building SmartMarket Report: 2006 [$99] ... "which includes a great chart on stock performance of 'green' companies vs. the S&P."

Glenn Fischer at Square Footage reports that "increasing evidence reveals that local market factors are decisive in determining how much traction green buildings truly have." According to his survey, the three metros with the highest awareness of green buildings were Los Angeles, Seattle and Washington, DC. The three lowest were the Chicago Suburbs, Indianapolis and San Francisco.

Carolyn Lane at the Real Property Association of Canada (RealPac) writes that RealPac's recent study, "Green Value Report," "revealed a clear link between the market value of real estate and its environmental friendliness." Green buildings "earn higher rents and prices, attract tenants and buyers more quickly; and cut tenant turnover..." [Download the report from RealPac's home page.]

Theddi Wright Chappell, a LEED Accredited professional with Pacific Security Capital points to Gerding Edlen in Portland, OR, as a successful developer of sustainable projects. "Their increased knowledge of the tax benefits and available materials and systems for sustainable development has resulted in not only professional acknowledgement, but also quantifiable bottom-line profits."

Leanne Tobias at Malachite claims that sustainable real estate is "growing by 75% annually" and that "AIG and Thomas Properties are expected to start green real estate funds in 2006."