Chicago Three-Peat’s as Nation’s Greenest City

Chicago - November, 4 2019 – Chicago’s office market was named the greenest in the U.S. for the third year in a row as the green building trend continues to expand in the nation’s largest cities, according to the sixth annual Green Building Adoption Index by CBRE, Maastricht University and the University of Guelph. Researchers found green-certified office space across America’s 30 largest office markets has reached 42.2% up from 41.9% the year before, marking a new high.

Chicago’s office space became greener over the past year, with nearly 71 percent of its space now green certified, up from 66 percent the previous year, securing its spot as the greenest city in the U.S. for the third straight year.

The market also ranked fifth in the inaugural Multifamily index with 19,645 green apartments, accounting for 5.9 percent of the market.

“In Chicago, owners, developers and the city have all embraced green building practices and the results have been incredibly impressive,” said Cory Roberts, director with CBRE. “Sustainability has become an integral part of our operations and we are
happy to partner with building owners to achieve triple bottom line results that not only deliver profits, but also fully consider people and our planet. While we’ve seen great successes, we can and all should do more.”

Behind Chicago the Green Building Adoption Index was San Francisco, with 67.5% percent of its space green certified and Atlanta (59.3%). In the Multifamily Index, Denver led with 7 percent of the market’s multifamily apartment units green certified, followed by Washington DC/Suburban Maryland with 6.9 percent.

Office:

RANK MARKET TOTAL SQ. FT. TOTAL GREEN SQ. FT. % OF MARKET CERTIFIED GREEN
1 Chicago 235,167,156 167,159,631 71.1%
2 San Francisco 123,365,451 83,249,026 67.5%
3 Atlanta 135,269,837 80,204,198 59.3%
4 Minneapolis/St. Paul 70,147,960 40,038,997 57.1%
5 Los Angeles 204,047,455 115,487,171 56.6%

The Multifamily Green Building Adoption Index found that while it is still in the early stages, 3.3% of all multifamily apartment units in the top-30 markets have been green certified.

Multifamily:

RANK MARKET TOTAL UNITS TOTAL # GREEN UNITS % OF MARKET CERTIFIED GREEN
1 Denver 246,670 17,230 7.0%
2 Washington DC/Suburban Maryland 295,528 20,469 6.9%
3 Seattle 229,612 14,948 6.5%
4 Northern Virginia 211,558 13,674 6.5%
5 Chicago 331,687 19,645 5.9%

CBRE, Maastricht University and Universtiy of Guelph researchers, in partnership with the National Multifamily Housing Council, also note that building certification has become a more recognized and important part of a building’s profile in U.S. capital markets. Recent research shows that commercial mortgages collateralized by green-certified office buildings have significantly lower default rates, which implies that it may be beneficial for lenders to factor the energy and sustainability performance of buildings into mortgage pricing.

This is the sixth release of the annual Green Building Adoption Index and the inaugural Multifamily Green Building Adoption Index. Based on a rigorous methodology, the Green Building Adoption Index shows the growth of ENERGY STAR- and LEED-certified space for the 30 largest U.S. office markets, both in aggregate and in individual markets, since 2005.

“Green building continues to be a growing trend, as both tenants and owners seek the benefits of being associated with these properties,” said Spencer Levy, chairman of Americas Research for CBRE and senior economic advisor. “Long-term, these buildings offer real cost savings, making them appealing to owners and investors alike. These buildings are also more attractive to tenants, as many corporate users seek out these properties for their operational and social benefits. As the market has proven, its popularity only continues to grow.”

The Multifamily Green Building Adoption Index shows totals for ENERGY STAR-, LEED-, and National Green Building Standard-certified space for the 30 largest U.S. multifamily markets. View the Office Green Building Adoption Index’s findings HERE and the Multifamily Index HERE.