New Partnership to Cut CRE Building Energy Use, Costs

The Clinton Global Initiative has announced a commitment to reduce energy use, create jobs, and provide significant savings for the commercial real estate sector by boosting the market for energy-efficient commercial tenant space. The three-year project is a collaboration between financial, real estate, and environmental industry companies Goldman Sachs, Greenprint Foundation, Johnson Controls, Jones Lang LaSalle, Malkin Holdings LLC, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Vornado Realty Trust, and YR&G to undertake energy efficient improvements that provide value for tenants and owners.

“By making commercial buildings more energy efficient we can not only reduce harmful air pollution, we can save property owners and tenants serious cash,” said Yerina Mugica, Associate Director for NRDC's Center for Market Innovation. “By bringing together building owners, managers, occupants, financiers, and efficiency experts we can clear the roadblocks that are keeping the building sector from taking advantage of major savings in energy costs,” Mugica noted. Mugica said that the Clinton Global Initiative is connecting the dots to provide more access to these economic benefits within the commercial real estate industry.

Through this project, the partners will work with New York City tenants who are signing or renewing leases for new or existing property to incorporate energy efficiency measures into the design of their premises, from lighting to air distribution and energy management systems, and to carefully measure and document the economic benefits generated by the high performance measures.

The goal is to help other tenants throughout the nation identify the savings potential efficiency can offer, and provide a roadmap they can follow, in order to boost the market for energy efficient commercial building space. The project is unique because it focuses on tenant demand for green buildings as the driver for increasing the energy efficiency market. And the expertise in the project team includes industry leaders from every aspect of the market.

Untapped, cost-effective efficiency improvements could save the building sector up to $33 billion per year by 2030, according to a study from McKinsey & Company. Buildings are responsible for 40 percent of carbon dioxide pollution nationwide, and 80 percent in New York City.