New Study Names Philadelphia The 11th-Greenest Market In The Country
A new study conducted by CBRE and Maastricht University has ranked Philadelphia the 11th-greenest commercial real estate market in the country.
The study uses the percentage of a major market's commercial real estate that satisfies either Energy Star requirements or achieves LEED certification, or both. With 37.6% of its buildings meeting these standards, Philly slid one spot from 10th position last year. Chicago took the top spot this year, with San Francisco moving back to second place after being at the top last year.
Although the push to make buildings more sustainable and environmentally friendly is no longer coming from the federal government, developers and their tenants continue to place a premium on green buildings, with the number of buildings meeting LEED certification growing from year to year.
One possible factor in Philly's relatively high standing among green cities is its city law, implemented in 2012, requiring new buildings meet certain sustainability benchmarks. Nine of the top 10 cities in the CBRE study have similar benchmarking policies on the books.
"While it is still too early to make a definitive correlation between benchmarking ordinances and the rate of growth in 'green' buildings, this year's findings begin to establish a link that will be studied closely in the future," CBRE Global Director of Corporate Responsiblity David Pogue said.
FMC Tower, which delivered in the latter portion of 2016, is LEED Gold certified. Its delivery compensated for the lapsing of Energy Star and LEED certifications in existing buildings to keep Philly relatively stable in the rankings.
