ATLANTA—How green is Atlanta commercial real estate? Greener than most, according to the 2015 Green Building Adoption Index, a joint project of CBRE Group, Inc. and Maastricht University.  

With 57.9% of its office space considered “green,” That puts Atlanta well above the national average of 38.7%. Atlanta ranked fourth of 30 markets. Last year, Atlanta ranked fifth on the list. Atlanta also leads the nation in the number of ENERGY STAR-labeled buildings at 24.6% and is third in the nation in the number of LEED-certified buildings at 8.7%. Minneapolis ranked first, San Francisco second, Chicago third, Houston fifth, with Denver Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Miami and Seattle rounding out the top 10.

“Our 2015 study confirmed that green building adoption has been primarily a big building, first-tier city phenomenon,” says David Pogue, CBRE's global director of corporate responsibility. “It would appear that many smaller buildings in the majority of large markets still have an opportunity to be 'best in class' among their peer set by achieving these certifications.” 

Atlanta's submarkets demonstrate even stronger numbers. Midtown, which is home to plenty of Millennial office users, has one of the strongest green building adoptions ratings, with 27 buildings, 51.9% of the total, green certified. Buckhead and the Central Perimeter follow with 45.3%, and 32.5% of office buildings certified, respectively. Some of the Fortune 500 companies that call Atlanta home are also adopting the green workspace. Pulte Group is in Buckhead's ENERGY STAR-labeled Capital City Plaza and Mercedes-Benz and Porsche are both developing LEED-certified buildings.

The study also found that owners of small buildings have an opportunity to differentiate themselves by implementing energy-efficient practices, due to a significant gap between large and small office buildings in achieving sustainability certification. 62.1% of office buildings in the US greater than 500,000 square feet are considered green. In contrast, only 4.5% of all US office buildings less than 100,000 square feet qualified as green.

“In an effort to remain green, we have incorporated an eco-lobby with a four-story wall covered by 15,000 living plants at Three Ravinia in Central Perimeter,” Jennifer Corbitt, CBRE senior real estate manager and property manager at Three Ravinia, tells GlobeSt.com. “It's one of the largest interior green walls in the world, and helps to oxygenate the building. They soak up sunlight and reflect it back into the building, providing more natural light and energy into the office environment. As a result of the eco-lobby and other transformations, Three Ravinia is a LEED and ENERGY STAR certified building."