Imagine you're a leading services firmwith a longstanding commitment to promoting sustainability. You'veachieved carbon neutrality in your own operations globally and youmanage a significant percentage of the world's LEED-EB certifiedoffice buildings. You've gotten Energy Star certification for morethan 250 million square feet of office product, earning the USEnvironmental Protection Agency's Energy Star Sustained ExcellenceAward for five years running. Where do you go from there? In fact,says David Pogue, CBRE's global director of sustainability andarchitect of the firm's green initiatives, that's exactly whatowners are asking his company.

"This is a year where many of our clients are now asking,'what's next? We've got most of our buildings LEED certified, wehave an Energy Star rating of 82, but everybody else does too,'"Pogue tells Better Buildings. "A lot ofthe market is catching up; owners who had been leaders now findthat they're just part of a broader group of people who aresimilarly positioned."

In conversations with clients, CBRE is looking at "even higherdegrees of energy efficiency, data management tools, finding waysto demonstrate that your building is at the top of the market andcreating a differentiation," says Pogue. "So we're earnestlyseeking answers: What is the next piece? Where does sustainabilitygo after you've gotten LEED certification? What do you do now todemonstrate that you're different or better?"