The Green Building Opportunity Index | green tech, development, retro-fitting, leasing, office buildings

The Green Building Opportunity Index is the first office market assessment tool to provide weighted comparisons of top U.S. office markets on the basis of both real estate fundamentals and green development considerations.

Focusing on the primary factors that influence successful development, retro-fitting, leasing and sales of investment grade "green" office buildings in the 25 largest U.S. Central Business Districts (CBDs), the Index compares a market's relative position to its peers in six categories: Office Market Conditions, Investment Outlook, Green Adoption & Implementation, Local Mandates & Incentives, State Energy Initiatives and Green Culture.

Over 100 variables were compiled using proprietary data and supplemented with information from leading industry sources. These variables were selected as representative of the financial, market, policy and cultural factors that affect a property's financial performance when considering investments in sustainable building design, operations and/or certifications.

The data consists of traditional real estate metrics such as vacancy rates, absorption and growth forecasts, combined with other indicators-direct and indirect-of a given market's resources, incentives, and maturity in promoting and delivering an inventory of green buildings.

The Index ranks each market on a scale comprised of six main categories. To determine a market's position in a particular category, each is ranked across several variables.

Then, the market with the highest score is assigned a value of 100, with the remaining markets receiving a value based on their position relative to the leader. The results for each variable are then totaled, giving a combined market score for the category. The summarized scores are then recalibrated, with the highest market total set to a value of 100. The remaining markets then receive a final ranking based on their position relative to the leader.