Valuation and Sustainability are Rating Tools Enough?

The lack of financial drivers are preventing significant investment in sustainability because stakeholders have no ability to measure the sustainability of the building or understand the impact upon the value. Valuers are unable to indicate or clarify whether sustainability is affecting the market value as there is an absence of detailed market evidence, sales data and lease transactions of sustainable buildings. Leaving both Valuers and other stakeholders uncertain of the value implication as there is no reliable evidence as to whether sustainable buildings are feasible (Lutzkendorf and Lorenz 2005). One of the key barriers is the confusion evident in the industry particularly the measurement of sustainability in commercial property. Although a range of environmental rating tools exist for buildings globally in commercial property, the synergy between these tools and identification of the relationship between the measurement and market value is inherently blurred due to the unique nature of the compilation of points attributed in the rating tools for sustainability in commercial property. This paper examiners the challenges that face the Valuation profession in assessing the impact of sustainability on market value.