Phoenix among Top 20 greenest cities for office and multifamily buildings

Phoenix’s office and multifamily markets are ranked among the greenest cities in the U.S., according to the sixth annual Green Building Adoption Index and the inaugural Multifamily Green Building Adoption Index by CBRE, Maastricht University and the University of Guelph, ranking 18^th and 12^th respectively. 

Phoenix’s office space became greener over the past year, with 31.5% of its space now green certified, up from 28.38% the previous year and enough to move it up four spots overall. The market ranked 12th in the inaugural Multifamily Index with 9,580 green apartments, accounting for 3.3% of the institutional market. 

The 2019 Green Building Adoption Index found green certified office space across America’s 30 largest office markets has reached 42.2%, up from 41.9% last year, marking a new high.

Chicago took the top spot among the greenest cities in the Green Building Adoption Index for the third straight year, with 71 percent of its space green certified. In the Multifamily Index, Denver led with 7 percent of the market’s multifamily apartment units green certified, followed by Washington DC/Suburban Maryland with 6.9 percent.

The Multifamily Green Building Adoption Index found that while it is still in the early stages, 3.3% of all multifamily apartment units in the top-30 markets, have been green certified.

CBRE, Maastricht University and University of Guelph researchers, in partnership with the National Multifamily Housing Council, also note that building certification has become a more recognized and important part of a building’s profile in U.S. capital markets. Recent research shows that commercial mortgages collateralized by green-certified office buildings have significantly lower default rates, which implies that it may be beneficial for lenders to factor the energy and sustainability performance of buildings into mortgage pricing. 

This is the sixth release of the annual Green Building Adoption Index and the inaugural Multifamily Green Building Adoption Index. Based on a rigorous methodology, the Green Building Adoption Index shows the growth of ENERGY STAR- and LEED-certified space for the 30 largest U.S. office markets, both in aggregate and in individual markets, since 2005. 

The Multifamily Green Building Adoption Index shows totals for ENERGY STAR-, LEED-, and National Green Building Standard-certified space for the 30 largest U.S. multifamily markets. View the Office Green Building Adoption Index’s findings HERE and the Multifamily Index HERE.