Trends in the commercial real estate industry reflect thechanging priorities of the organizations that occupy space, theinvestors and lenders that provide capital, and the largercommunity that is often represented by governmental bodies, publicsentiment and economic conditions. The intense focus on energy andsustainability over the past 10 years illustrates how the realestate community balances the needs of all these stakeholders andevokes the world in which we live.

The Kyoto Protocol in 1997 raised the issue of monitoring carbonemissions as a first step to reducing them. The film “AnInconvenient Truth” brought sustainability to a wider collectiveconsciousness. By the time sustainability concerns took centerstage in the latter half of the decade, forward-looking companiesalready had been finding ways to reduce environmental impacts foryears. For real estate service firms, energy and sustainabilityconcerns were driven by demand from clients and cities. Forexample, we at Jones Lang LaSalle certified our first LEEDdevelopment in 2003 for a university client, and the following yearwere recognized by a Chicago-area municipal coalition for ourcollaboration with corporate clients to reduce regional carbonemissions.

At first, sustainability initiatives, such as recyclingprograms, were mainly driven by the desire to enhance corporatebrands and employee morale. Before long, however, companiesrealized they could save millions of dollars with inexpensiveenergy efficiency measures. As corporations implemented energymanagement in their owned facilities, they looked for similarprograms in buildings where they lease space.