The real estate industry is responding quickly.  “Sustainability”, “LEED”, “carbon credits”, “cap and trade” are terms that are rapidly infiltrating our day to day conversations with developers, architects and the financial community. 

To maintain a competitive advantage, we will need to provide our clients with knowledge and tools to help them maximize their returns by employing green technologies.  Enhanced value will manifest itself through lower operating costs, faster lease-up and more aggressive cap rates.

At PGP Valuation, our Sustainability Practice Group has been networking with our partners at Colliers CMN to build a diverse and knowledgeable team to assist our clients with decisions about sustainable development.

Our offices in the Pacific Northwest are well positioned to take the lead in this emerging sector, as our region has been ahead of the curve:

• As of 2007, Portland and Seattle each had about the same number of LEED certified buildings as New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco combined. 
• Seattle was the first city in North America to establish a LEED standard for all public buildings.

The benefits of building green will be social, environmental and economic.  Commercial buildings, because of their large size, can make a measurable contribution to the sustainable movement.  PGP and Colliers can be the market leaders in valuation and brokerage of green buildings.  Future generations will be the beneficiaries.