Denver ranks as the seventh-greenest city in the United States, according to a recent study by
CBRE Group and
Maastricht University.
The third annual Green Building Adoption Index study found that 46.6 percent of office space in metro Denver qualified as green certified, down from 48.7 percent last year when Denver ranked No. 6 on t he list.
San Francisco claimed the top spot with 73.7 percent of its space considered green, followed by Chicago at 72.3 percent and Minneapolis at 60.6 percent.
Green office buildings are defined as those that hold either an EPA Energy Star label or U.S. Green Building Council LEED certification or both.
"While the rate of growth in green buildings has slowed modestly, our latest study underscores that in most major markets, sustainable office space has become the new normal," says David Pogue, CBRE's global director of corporate responsibility.
Green certifications are now held by 11.8 percent of all buildings surveyed in the 30 largest U.S. markets, representing 40.2 percent of all office space. Both figures are slightly above last year's results, indicating that while green building is still occurring, the rate of adoption is slowing.
"This likely reflects the fact that only a certain fraction of the building stock can obtain a green or energy-efficiency certification," says Nils Kok, associate professor in finance and real estate at Maastricht University. "Additionally, we believe that some buildings that were previously certified did not renew their certification in 2015. This does not necessarily mean that the energy use of these buildings has changed but that some of the owners and managers may choose not to spend the time or expense to reapply for certification every year."
Contact Confluence Denver Development News Editor Margaret Jackson with tips and leads for future stories at margaret@confluence-denver.com.
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