Sustainability Still Important Say Commercial Property Decision Makers, Despite Economic Downturn

08/05/2009 23:08

Ninety Percent Tell RICS That Issue Just As or More Important Than Before NEW YORK – August 5, 2009 – Sustainability remains high on the agenda for property professionals despite the worsening economic climate, according to the global property sustainability survey for the second quarter of 2009, released by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) today. More than 40 percent of respondents worldwide said they believed that sustainability is a more important issue for their clients now than it was this time last year. Nearly half of all respondents said they felt it was just as important. Less than 10 percent of those responding said they felt that it was less of an issue for their clients. In the United States, more than two-thirds of the respondents said sustainability was important to their clients – although dollars and cents appear to drive these decisions more than ethical or moral concerns, with 46 percent of U.S.-based respondents saying the business bottom line was the deciding factor (compared to only 3 percent citing ethical concerns). Property professionals in the United States are in line with their counterparts in most other countries when it comes to which specific sustainability issue drives decisions: energy supply. A quarter of all U.S. respondents cited that important factor. The one major economic power to cite a different primary concern was China, where transportation issues beat energy supply by four points. And who is most likely to pay a premium for sustainable development in the United States and around the world? Government may be the easy answer here but oil companies are also in the mix, equaling this activity in the United States and coming closely globally. According to Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist: “Sustainability clearly remains a major issue for most organizations according to this survey despite the depth of the downturn. However it is also clear that for many, the principal driver for change is business bottom line. “Businesses adopting ‘green’ initiatives generally expect them to offer a payback in terms of cost savings over the medium term,” Rubinsohn said. To read the survey report please click here. About the Global Property Sustainability Survey RICS’ Global Property Sustainability Survey is a quarterly guide to the issue of sustainability in the property world. This edition details opinions for the second quarter of 2009 based on information collected from leading international real estate organizations and local firms. Survey questionnaires were sent to real estate organizations in June 2009, with responses received up until the July 20, 2009. Respondents were asked to compare conditions over the latest three months with the previous three months. ### About RICS & RICS Americas RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors), with headquarters in London, is the leading organization of its kind in the world for more than 100,000 professionals in property, land, construction and related environmental issues. RICS Americas, based in New York and covering North, Central and South America and the Caribbean, has more than 3,000 members in commercial and residential development, construction and project management, brokerage, planning and finance, valuation and fine arts appraisal. For further information visit www.ricsamericas.org or e-mail ricsamericas@rics.org.