Value Beyond Cost Savings - Green Building Finance Consortium

Appendix FSustainable Property Financial Analysis AlternativesAnalysis/Model Description/Commentary Key Links/ExamplesB. Traditional Real Estate Financial Models• management aid: as a ‘geed-back’ method for measuringbuilding performance, particularly in relation toorganizational efficiency and business productivity• benchmarking aid for sustainable development: formeasuring progress in the transition towards sustainableproduction and consumption of the built environment(Cooper, 2001)Although the use of POE is widely advocated as best practicein guides to construction and facility management, POEs arefar from being a ‘mainstream’ activity within the constructionand property sector. The Probe studies are one of the firstsystematic and rigorous attempts to investigate theperformance of buildings, modern workplace environmentsand their occupant’s responses (Bordass et al., 1999). Theygave valuable insights into the functioning and performance ofbuildings and led to the identification of four ‘killer variables’that positively correlate with occupant’s comfort, satisfactionand perceived productivity (Leaman and Bordass, 1999):• personal control: occupants’ perception of control overtheir workplace environment (i.e. heating, cooling, lighting,ventilation and noise)• responsiveness: the building’s capability to meetoccupants’ needs very rapidly either in anticipation or asthey arise (e.g. adaptability of spaces to accommodatechange, speed of response to complaints by the facilitiesmanagement, etc.)• building depth: the building’s depth of space (a depth ofabout 12m across the building seems optimal for humanperformance; the deeper the building gets, overallsatisfaction and productivity tend to go down)• workgroups: relates to room size and workspaceorganization; productivity is higher in smaller (less thanfour people) and more integrated workgroups”229