FTSE Group, NAREIT (National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts) and the US Green Building Council (USGBC) have created the property world’s first green building benchmarks.
The family of indices will use LEED and Energy Star data from USGBC. The LEED (leadership in environmental design) benchmarking system evaluates buildings on categories such as energy, water use and innovation in design, while Energy Star is an internationally recognised standard for energy efficient consumer products and buildings.
According to a FTSE Group statement, the green bench marking system aims to give investors the opportunity to make sustainable property investments through index-linked products.
Mark Makepeace, chief executive of FTSE Group, said, “To date, no comparable benchmark has been available. We’ve already received expressions of interest from many large asset owners concerned about their exposure to a rapidly changing sector directly affected by the transition to the low carbon economy.”
sophia.furber@estatesgazette.com
