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Operating Expenses and the Rent Premium of Energy Star and LEED Certified Buildings in the Central and Eastern U.S

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  • Alexander Reichardt

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between operating expenses and rents of Energy Star and LEED certified buildings in the Central and Eastern United States. Several studies have shown that sustainable buildings command a rent premium compared to comparable conventional buildings. Lower operating expenses are expected to be a major source of the rent premium that sustainable buildings command. This is especially the case for buildings with triple-net leases, where tenants directly benefit from savings in operating costs. For a large dataset of U.S. office buildings this study finds significantly lower operating expenses in LEED certified buildings. However, savings in operating expenses only explain part of the rent premium. Additional factors must be at work. Surprisingly, we find significantly higher operating expenses in Energy Star rated buildings. Hence, intangible benefits appear to be the major source of rental premiums of Energy Star rated buildings. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

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  • Alexander Reichardt, 2014. "Operating Expenses and the Rent Premium of Energy Star and LEED Certified Buildings in the Central and Eastern U.S," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 413-433, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jrefec:v:49:y:2014:i:3:p:413-433
    DOI: 10.1007/s11146-013-9442-z
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    Cited by:

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    2. Daniel C. Matisoff & Douglas S. Noonan & Mallory E. Flowers, 2016. "Policy Monitor—Green Buildings: Economics and Policies," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 10(2), pages 329-346.
    3. Eerika Janhunen & Niina Leskinen & Seppo Junnila, 2020. "The Economic Viability of a Progressive Smart Building System with Power Storage," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-18, July.
    4. Duy Hoang Pham & Joosung Lee & Yonghan Ahn, 2019. "Implementing LEED v4 BD+C Projects in Vietnam: Contributions and Challenges for General Contractor," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-17, October.
    5. Giraudet, Louis-Gaëtan, 2020. "Energy efficiency as a credence good: A review of informational barriers to energy savings in the building sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    6. Marc Rysman & Timothy Simcoe & Yanfei Wang, 2020. "Differentiation Strategies in the Adoption of Environmental Standards: LEED from 2000 to 2014," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(9), pages 4173-4192, September.
    7. Franz Fuerst & Ben Dalton, 2019. "Gibt es einen wissenschaftlichen Konsens zur Wirtschaftlichkeit nachhaltiger Immobilien? [Is there a scientific consensus on the economic viability of sustainable buildings?]," Zeitschrift für Immobilienökonomie (German Journal of Real Estate Research), Springer;Gesellschaft für Immobilienwirtschaftliche Forschung e. V., vol. 5(1), pages 173-191, November.
    8. Ali Amiri & Juudit Ottelin & Jaana Sorvari, 2019. "Are LEED-Certified Buildings Energy-Efficient in Practice?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-14, March.
    9. Fuerst, Franz & Gabrieli, Tommaso & McAllister, Patrick, 2017. "A green winner's curse? Investor behavior in the market for eco-certified office buildings," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 137-146.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Rent premium; Eco-certification; Energy Star; LEED; Operating expenses; Triple-net lease; Sustainable real estate; M14; C23; D92;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D92 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Intertemporal Firm Choice, Investment, Capacity, and Financing

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