Who invests in green office buildings and why?

Real estate developers say this is a game accessible only to professionals, consultants point to tenants and major financial resources, but on one thing they agree: although the field is new in Romania, building ‘green’ is gaining attention and growing fast, as multinational companies are expected to lead the way to a greener country .

Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) is the leading and most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings that was established in the UK in 1990 by BRE organization (e.n at that time it was a governmental organization and currently is privately held).

The first and so far the only office building rewarded with BREEAM certification in Romania is located on Barbu Vacarescu Road, Bucharest and was developed by AIG/Lincoln and fund management company Fabian. The Lakeview was awarded with a high BREEAM rating after half-year-long process.

Obtaining such a high rating, may involve higher construction costs, but not necessarily higher rents. Sven Lemmes (photo), country manager of AIG/Lincoln is aware that in Romania, builders don’t focus too much on “green buildings”, but things are about to change in the near future”, Sven Lemmes told Wall-Street.

Real estate market is divided into professionals and small investors or amateurs. “The first will be forced to go green soon, if they want quality tenants. A local builder will never be pressured to build green, at least over the next five years”, said Lemmes.

“If you are running a company that backs the concept of green, then you can only stay in a green building, it is about the image you create, not necessarily about costs. For tenants’ operating costs to be visibly lower, developers should add 30% more investment, costs that would eventually reflect in rents level”, representative of AIG/Lincoln.