Green Building Appraisal Resources

More green building resources exist than you may think. This list is not comprehensive in any way, please help support the dissemination of green property data by submitting your comment below.

Green Building Finance

If you are a lender, appraiser or real estate professional struggling to deal with green property valuation, a suggested starting point is the Green Building Finance Consortium. They have a plethora of valuation related resources, including the Value Beyond Cost Savings book, best read through the Expanded Chapters.

The Green Building Finance Consortium also has a plethora of Green Building Finance Research, industry links and past presentations.

Market Data

If you are an appraiser, broker, or lender, the best market data you can find will be based on identifying a group of similar green properties to your property and market, then relating property characteristics to one another to extract the data you are looking for. The USGBC has recently launched this Green Building GIS Locator Tool for LEED buildings, you can also look at some of their case studies. Or, perhaps a better way of searching for LEED projects in your area may be using this LEED Projects and Case Studies Directory. If all else fails, try to google “green/LEED, your property type, your market-” (EX: green retail denver, or LEED retail denver) to try to locate a comparable listing/rental property. Some other notable sales and projects in the Denver Area to look at are:

Sales/Rental Data

As mentioned above, one easy way to find LEED buildings is with this LEED Projects and Case Studies Directory.

Here are a few Denver-based projects that may get you started.

Eos Building (Broomfield- Commercial)

1800 Larimer St. (Downtown- Commercial)

Green Cube (Highlands- Residential)

Washpark Green (Wash Park-Residential)

Green Real Estate offers residential green property listings.

Please contact us to share your green property sale/rental data. This section is a work in progress.

Market Studies

This Green Building Study released Summer 2011 by Costar is pretty substantial. It is related to commercial buildings.

The Costar Study released in 2008 also has similar information, though it is slightly older. Also related to commercial buildings.

The USGBC has a plethora of market research, case studies, and GIS Green Building data.

The Earth Institute in Portland Oregon has some good research related to the value of residential third party certification, effective Summer 2011.

McGraw Hill seems to be leading the way with commercial green property research. They have several research and white papers available, one is the Business Benefits of Green Building.

Green Building Costs

Marshal & Swift has the Marshall & Swift Green Building Costs insert that can improve cost analysis on green buildings.

Buyer/Tenant Profiles

This Buyer Profile Study is somewhat dated (2007) though presents a good, objective study related to who is buying green, why, and their satisfaction.

Bigger Pockets.com has a good recap of some recent buyer/tenant green property demands.

Appraisal Education

This is a quick read on valuing residential high performance housing brought to you by the Alliance for Environmental Sustainability for those looking for a solid introduction to residential green property valuation.

This page is a work in progress. To join the discussion please submit your comment below.