Value Beyond Cost Savings - Green Building Finance Consortium

Value Beyond Cost Savings: How to Underwrite Sustainable PropertiesB. Summary ConclusionsThe most important conclusion of this chapter is that financial models that generateresults based solely or primarily on initial development costs and operating costs savings,like the most commonly used Simple Pay-Back or Simple Return on Investment (ROI)models, are inherently flawed because they fail to consider revenue or risk. Theselimitations are not new, but dramatic increases in regulator, space user and investor demandfor sustainable properties during the last few years have substantially enhanced the negativeimplications of these limitations.Fortunately, the second most important conclusion is that the most widely recognizedfinancial model for evaluating real estate investments—discounted cash flow analysis(DCF), is well suited to address the financial implications of sustainability. Discountedcash flow analysis provides a conceptual framework and model that enables the user tointegrate quantitative and qualitative analysis to measure sustainable property financialperformance. Most importantly, it provides the means to translate the “intermediate”sustainable property cost and benefit outcomes like health or productivity benefits,expedited permitting, or lower operating costs, into financial measures like rate of return ornet present value traditionally used by real estate capital providers.A third key conclusion is that even if you do not execute a full DCF model in yourunderwriting, you must employ the logic and linkages inherent in a DCF model toaccurately articulate potential implications of sustainable property attributes on financialperformance. If you do not rigorously follow the framework, it is easy to under- or overestimatethe magnitude, and even the direction of, potential financial performanceimplications.A fourth important conclusion is that sustainable property financial modeling andanalysis requires a more sophisticated and explicit analysis and documentation of therisks—both positive and negative—that influence the cash flow to provide decision-makersthe proper context for interpreting rate of return, net present value, or valuationconclusions.Thinking explicitly about what will constitute an effective investment package 67 will makedocumentation of the work product easier. Some investment decisions require formalappraisals and due diligence reports, while other decisions can be made based on briefbusiness case white papers and/or oral presentations. Most lenders require formal thirdpartyappraisals and have structured underwriting requirements, while investors andcorporations typically have their own customized formats for their real estate decisions.67 Investment package refers to the written or digital product of an underwriting/due diligence process. This could be anunderwriting summary and all the supporting loan write-ups and third party reports, closing binders, etc. that would betypical for a mortgage; or a memo, financial schedule and/or PowerPoint presentation typical for many higher levelstrategic decisions.98