Warsaw among most environmentally sustainable office markets in the world

Chicago, Houston, New York, San Francisco and Warsaw have over 40 percent of their total office stock certified ‘green’, making their office markets some of the most environmentally sustainable in the world, according to Savills World Research. But in many major cities there is a significant disconnect between city governments’ ambitious net-zero targets and the green credentials of existing stock.

As part of its 2022 global Impacts research program, the international real estate advisor says 38 percent of North American and European cities have set net-zero targets, while the proportion is 18 percent of cities in Latin America, 17 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa, 14 percent in Asia Pacific, and 4 percent in the Middle East and North Africa.

“To achieve climate neutrality, we need much broader strategies than just building certification. The right choice of a certification scheme for sustainable buildings should complement a broader ESG strategy designed to meet net-zero targets and minimize the negative impact of buildings on our natural environment and health. We should remember that by 2030 all new commercial buildings will have to reach net zero, followed by all buildings in 2050. The biggest challenge is that over 85% of existing buildings will still be with us in 2050, when Europe aims to be climate neutral,” Katarzyna Chwalbińska-Kusek, Head of ESG & Sustainability at Savills Poland, commented.

(WBJ)