Good Stuff Happens in 1:1 Meetings: Why you need them and how to do them well
Green Metrx Primer
1. GreenMetrx
With greater sponsorship of green buildings by private developers and institutional
investors...means that the major real estate markets - the markets where institutional
investors focus their attention - will be pushed even faster to the tipping point where
green building becomes the market standard. This is the inflection point at which
performance premiums for green buildings flip to a discount for older, less efficient,
conventional buildings.
- RREEF Research (February 2009)
Company Overview
GreenMetrx was founded on the principle that the sustainable building industry will continue to grow in size
and in significance, presenting commercial real estate developers, owners, managers, investors, and
tenants with significant economic growth and value-add opportunities.
The burgeoning green building market will eventually reach a “tipping point” in which sustainable buildings
become the framework upon which all other buildings are judged. Overwhelming evidence appears to
confirm that this is the case in Ontario and the rest of Canada.
As such, GreenMetrx aims to be a key component in the facilitation, promotion, and acceleration of
sustainable building strategies throughout Ontario’s commercial real estate sector and abroad.
Our company’s objective is to help commercial real estate developers, owners, managers, investors, and
tenants leverage the economic, environmental, and social opportunities associated with sustainable
building strategies. More precisely, our goal is to help client’s realize the economic, environmental, and
social motivations, returns, risks, and value-add opportunities associated with various sustainable building
strategies.
GreenMetrx’s long-term objective is to be a key component in helping bridge the gap between the
‘physical’ and ‘monetary’ sides of the sustainable commercial building sector, facilitating and promoting the
implementation of green building strategies by all commercial real estate stakeholders.
Our Strategy
The growth and success of GreenMetrx depends on developing and maintaining superior working
relationships with commercial real estate developers, owners, managers, investors, and tenants focused
on learning about and incorporating sustainable building strategies. Our company aims to help client’s in
the following ways:
1. Providing unique Research on the sustainable building industry;
a. Focusing on the economic, environmental, and social motivations, returns, risks, and value-add
opportunities associated with the adoption and implementation of green building initiatives;
2. Providing a Marketing framework for communicating our research and data to existing and potential
clients, including commercial real estate developers, owners, managers, investors, and tenants;
3. Providing Brokerage & Transaction Management Services;
a. Green Lease Management & Advisory Service;
b. Tenant Representation;
c. Landlord Representation;
4. Providing Sustainable Building Valuation & Advisory Services;
a. Property Appraisal & Valuation;
b. Green Strategic Consulting & Planning;
c. Facilities Planning & Management; and,
d. Energy & Sustainability Analysis & Management.
2. Research
Our company’s objective is to provide unique research and data on the sustainable building
industry. The primary motivation is to assist existing and prospective clients, including
commercial real estate developers, owners, managers, investors, and tenants in learning
more about the economic, environmental, and social returns, risks, and value-add
opportunities associated with sustainable building strategies. Our goal is to develop
important and long-lasting relationships with readers and users of our market research and
data.
3. LEED® Certified Buildings in Canada by Building Type
Mixed Use
Industrial
14
Residential
12
Office
11
School/Library 65
19
Other Retail
45 15
Marketing
We hope to achieve our goals using the following marketing resources and tools:
Market Reports
• Monthly downtown Toronto LEED® Office Market Report, GTA LEED® Industrial Market
Report, and GTA LEED® Condominium Report
Newsletters
• GreenMetrx Quarterly Newsletter
Social Networking Sites
• Twitter (http://twitter.com/greenmetrx)
Brokerage & Transaction Management
Green Lease Management & Advisory
• Auditing, Renewals, Restructuring, Administration
Tenant Representation
• Financial Analysis
• Location Advisory (incl. site selection)
• Lease Negotiation
• Market Research & Analysis
• Economic Incentives and Survey of Market Alternatives
Landlord Representation
• Property Acquisition & Disposition
• Property Management
• Lease Negotiation & Administration
• Market Research & Analysis
• Property Positioning
Sustainable Building Valuation & Advisory Services
• Appraisal & Valuation
• Green Strategic Consulting & Planning
• Asset Optimization Analysis
• Market Research
• Location Advisory, site selection & economic incentives
• Facilities Planning & Management
• Review of Operations
• Financial modeling and budgeting
• Operations and cost audits
• Capital Expenditure examination and validation
• Energy and Sustainability Analysis & Management
• Benchmarking Studies
• Efficiency Analysis
• Accommodation and workplace strategies
• Space Utilization models and trends
4. Green Lease Management & Advisory
Our services focus on understanding and evaluating ‘green’ lease principles and concepts.
Tenant Representation
Working on behalf of tenants, our focus is on researching and evaluating the economic, environmental,
and social benefits and risks of incorporating sustainable building strategies. Our services include the
comparison of sustainable commercial floor space versus conventional space and the development and
implementation of specific marketing and leasing strategies.
Landlord Representation
Working on behalf of landlords, our focus is on understanding, evaluating, and presenting the financial,
environmental, and social benefits, risks, and value-add opportunities associated with adopting and
implementing (and not incorporating) sustainable building strategies. Our objective is on aligning client’s
real estate decisions with their overall business strategies.
Green Building Valuation & Advisory Services
Our firm works to identify the returns, risks, and value-add opportunities associated with sustainable
building strategies. Our focus is on helping clients navigate the complexities of the sustainable building
industry. Our capabilities include analyzing the product positioning of sustainable buildings and commercial
floor space relative to conventional buildings.
Property Appraisal & Valuation
Working with commercial real estate owners and managers to research and evaluate the financial
feasibility of adopting and implementing sustainable building strategies. On behalf of clients, the focus is
on assessing the economic growth and market value of commercial real estate assets resulting from the
incorporation of green building strategies.
We also provide analysis and valuations on existing green building strategies and their impact on the
financial value of commercial assets.
Green Strategic Consulting & Planning
Our firm works with clients to obtain the necessary information and framework to conceptualize, plan,
develop and implement green building practices and policies. The focus is on targeting methods and
procedures that improve the financial returns and reduce the operating risks of owning and managing
commercial assets.
Our firm works with clients to monitor performance metrics, report on operating initiatives and costs, and
ensure green program standards and certification levels are being properly adhered to.
Facilities Planning & Management
Strategic facilities planning includes the assessment and reporting of building capabilities, including facility
operating practices and procedures. Working closely with clients to streamline facility ownership,
management, and leasing processes and procedures. The focus is on continually improving the
operational and financial performance of client’s facilities.
Energy & Sustainability Analysis & Management
Particular focus is given to benchmarking current facility operations with an emphasis on improving short-
and long-term operational consumption and costs. Resources at our disposal include building simulation
and energy modeling tools.
5. Paradigm Shift: The Commercial Real Estate Sector & Sustainable Building Strategies
There has been a shift from anecdotal evidence to well-documented case studies and
comparative analyses indicating that provisioning of sustainable property investment
products and related consulting services offers a major opportunity for property
professionals to increase financial returns, as well as their standing within society and the
business world. Yet, this opportunity remains largely untapped due to various reasons.
- Journal of Sustainable Real Estate (2009)
As of March 2010, the CaGBC reported that there were 249 LEED® certified buildings throughout
Canada. Those buildings translate into 2,414,927 m2 (25,994,058 ft2) of green space and a market
penetration of LEED® certified floor space of 0.0036%. However, the market penetration of LEED® certified
space has increased significantly since the first LEED® certified building in 2002. For example, the growth
rate (in psf) of LEED® certified office in downtown Toronto continues to trend upwards at an increasingly
robust rate.
Downtown Toronto LEED® Certified Office Space
15,000,000
Square Feet
11,250,000
7,500,000
3,750,000
0
2008 2009 Q1 !10 Q2 !10 Q3 !10 Q4 !10 2011 2012 2015
LEED® Certified Total Inventory (sq. ft.)
The Rise of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental, Social, and Governance
(ESG) Principles and Concepts
The Growing acceptance of the idea of corporate social responsibilty by organizations,
corpoartions and other stakeholders across creates a demand for investment
opportunities and products that adhere to the principles of sustainable development. This
demand is further strengthened by the growing body of acedemic research evidencing
that socially responsible investing (SRI) and corporate social responsibilty (CSR)
programs do not result in inferior financial performance compared to conventional
business practices.
- UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative
...and Sustainable Development
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.
- The Brundtland Commission (for the United Nations)
United Nations’ Principles of Responsible Investing (PRI)
• UN’s PRI initiative seeks to incorporate, promote, and enhance ESG issues as part of the fiduciary
duties and responsibilities of institutional investors
• As of June 2010, the UN PRI has 758 signatories representing asset owners, investment managers
and professional service partners
6. • There are 32 Canadian signatories, including: British Columbia Municipal Pension Plan, Caisse de
dépôt et placement du Québec, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, BC Investment
Management Corporation, Bentall LP, and TD Asset Management Inc.
Responsible Property Investing (RPI)
• As of July 2008, the Social Investment Organization (SIO) argues there was more than $609 billion
invested in ‘core’ and ‘broad’ SRI assets in Canada.
• SIO found that $54.2 billion was specifically invested in core SRI assets in Canada
• For example, an allocation of between 10% and 20% ‘core’ SRI assets would mean an
investment of between $5.42 and $10.84 billion in sustainable real estate assets.
The Tipping Point: The Increasing Economic Growth & Market Penetration of Sustainable Buildings
With greater sponsorship of green buildings by private developers and institutional
investors...means that the major real estate markets - the markets where institutional
investors focus their attention - will be pushed even faster to the tipping point where
green building becomes the market standard. This is the inflection point at which
performance premiums for green buildings flip to a discount for older, less efficient,
conventional buildings.
- RREEF Research (February 2009)
Commercial real estate developers, owners, managers, investors, and tenants continue to commit greater
resources and capital to adopting and implementing corporate social responsibility (CSR) and
environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles.
Developers & Asset Managers
Reduced Risks
• Market Risks; Regulatory & Legislative Risks; Pricing Risks; and, GHG Emissions Risks, etc.
Increased Tenant Demand
• Higher Occupancy Rates
• Lower Vacancy Levels
• Reduced Churn rates
Rental Rate Premiums
• Higher rental rates for LEED® and Energy Star buildings
Increased Market Values
• Overall Capitalization Rate (OCR) Analysis
• Lower Capitalization Rates due to higher quality and lower risks
• Discount Cash Flow (DCF) Analysis
• Higher NPV’s for pursuing green buildings instead of conventional buildings
• Direct Comparison Approach
• Sales premiums
Tenants
Increased Tenant Demand
• Improved Human Capital
• Increased worker productivity and employee morale
• Less worker absences and ‘sick’ days and Improved organizational performance
• Improved Corporate Reputation (‘Halo Effect’)
• Building and imrpoving corporate brand and image
7. A Sample of Downtown Toronto’s Sustainable Commercial Landscape
8. Exmaples of The Changing Commercial Real Estate Market
Brookfield Properties has implemented a CSR strategy focused on accomplishing three
objectives: 1) incorporating innovative energy conservation strategies to achieve best-in-
industry environmental performance in all new office developments; 2) capitalizing on
opportunities to redevelop, redesign and renovate properties within the existing portfolio to
realize maximum energy efficiency and a reduced carbon footprint; and, 3) taking leadership
positions in green industry organizations and undertaking new initiatives that foster the
sustainability of commercial properties.
As part of their commitment to sustainable building strategies, Brookfield has pledged to build
all new developments to a minimum standard of LEED® Gold.
Another example is Oxford Properties. Oxford has implemented their “Sustainable Intelligence”
program which aims to track the environmental performance of their properties using seven key
indicators, including: energy and atmosphere (electricity, natural gas and natural emissions);
water efficiency; sustainable site; materials and resources; and, indoor environmental quality.
Oxford’s sustainable intelligence categories align with the LEED® rating system.
There is also the case of First Capital Realty. First Capital’s environmental stewardship
program consists of three main criteria: 1) embedding corporate sustainability within corporate
structures, policies, procedures, and governance; 2) operating, creating, building or developing
centres that positively contribute to the surrounding communities; and, 3) building and
operating within the leading parameters of recognized environmental standards.
According the company’s corporate responsibility report, all of First Capital’s new development
projects are being built according to LEED® standards.