Environmentally-friendly construction practices have gotten a lot of hype over the past few years but do they really pay off as an investment? A new study found that tenants in green buildings experience increased productivity and fewer sick days. The research also found that that green buildings have lower vacancy rates and higher rents than non-green counterparts.
The study, conducted by the University of San Diego and commercial real estate broker CB Richard Ellis Group, found that tenants in green buildings such as the Behnisch Architekten-designed Unilever offices in Hamburg above are more productive based on two measures: the average number of tenant sick days and a productivity change. Respondents reported an average of 2.88 fewer sick days in their current green office versus their previous non-green office. About 55% of respondents indicated that employee productivity had improved.
Based on the average tenant salary, an office space of 250 square feet per worker and 250 workdays a year, the decrease in sick days translated into a net impact of nearly $5.00 per square foot per year. The increase in productivity translated into a net impact of about $20 per square foot. The study also showed that green buildings have 3.5% lower vacancy rates and 13% higher rental rates than the market.
The work was based on surveys of 154 buildings under CBRE’s management, totaling more than 51.6 million square feet and housing 3,000 tenants in ten markets across the U.S. The study defined a green building as those with LEED certification at any level or those that bear the EPA ENERGY STAR ® label.
Another report out in the past week concluded that constructing new green buildings or retrofitting existing structures with energy efficient air conditioning, solar panels and the like will support 7.9 million U.S. jobs and pump $554 billion into the American economy over the next four years. The study, by the U.S. Green Building Council and Booz Allen Hamilton, determined that green construction spending currently supports more than 2 million American jobs and generates more than $100 billion in gross domestic product and wages.
Two pastors in Kenya’s Kingdom Seekers Fellowship International church were killed in a road accident on Monday last week. The faithful believed that God would resurrect them if they prayed hard enough. If the pastors will not have risen from the death by Thursday, their bodies will be buried. [video]
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Kenya: Thousands pray for pastors to rise from dead
Two pastors in Kenya’s Kingdom Seekers Fellowship International church were killed in a road accident on Monday last week. The faithful believed that God would resurrect them if they prayed hard enough. If the pastors will not have risen from the death by Thursday, their bodies will be buried. [video]
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Kenya: Thousands pray for pastors to rise from dead
Three times now, including a complaint they plan to file today against the secretive C Street Center in Washington, D.C., the activist pastors have challenged the tax-exempt status of religious organizations they believe have improperly dabbled in partisan politics. Their numbers fluctuate, but their mission is always the same: protect the divide between church and state.
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C Street house target of clergy’s IRS complaint
Three times now, including a complaint they plan to file today against the secretive C Street Center in Washington, D.C., the activist pastors have challenged the tax-exempt status of religious organizations they believe have improperly dabbled in partisan politics. Their numbers fluctuate, but their mission is always the same: protect the divide between church and state.
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C Street house target of clergy’s IRS complaint
The Church of Scientology has a lengthy history of hate- and harassment activities against critics and former members. The St. Petersburg Times has faithfully investigated the cult, and most recently ran a series of special reports in which former top-Scientologists alleged abuse at the hands of the organization’s top leader. Now the cult does what it has always done: go after its critics.
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Scientology Church hires reporters to investigate newspaper
The Church of Scientology has a lengthy history of hate- and harassment activities against critics and former members. The St. Petersburg Times has faithfully investigated the cult, and most recently ran a series of special reports in which former top-Scientologists alleged abuse at the hands of the organization’s top leader. Now the cult does what it has always done: go after its critics.
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Scientology Church hires reporters to investigate newspaper
Summum , a small sect based on Gnostic Christianity , is suing Pleasant Grove, Utah seeking to erect a display of its Seven Aphorisms in a park in Pleasantgrove, Utah. The town seeks to have the suit thrown out.
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Summum sect asks to erect monument while suit is pending
Summum , a small sect based on Gnostic Christianity , is suing Pleasant Grove, Utah seeking to erect a display of its Seven Aphorisms in a park in Pleasantgrove, Utah. The town seeks to have the suit thrown out.
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Summum sect asks to erect monument while suit is pending
The leader of a French sect in detention at a hospital in Malta has been on a hunger strike since Wednesday morning after he was denied bail, according to his lawyer. The cult leader and his fianc
