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From SCT, Shopping Centers Today Weekly, July 23, 2007
“Green” building practices are taking root in the U.S. shopping center industry, but price concerns, a lack of awareness of government incentives, and the need for industry benchmarks are hurdles developers face as they seek environmental sustainability, according to a March ICSC survey of about 200 executives. Just over half the survey respondents said they have instituted energy-efficient best practices, including energy-saving light bulbs and reflective roofs. About four out of 10 said they have set up recycling procedures, 36 percent cited systems-maintenance best practices, and 29.4 percent said they use sustainable techniques for janitorial maintenance. Only 40 percent of the respondents had measured the impact of such initiatives by formally auditing energy consumption at their properties.
Developers seem largely unmotivated by government pressure. Only 38 percent of the firms had availed themselves of energy-efficiency incentives. About 14 percent made use of some green technique to obtain a permit, 13 percent used one to expedite a plan’s approval, and 15 percent implemented green design to offset other governmental requirements. Cost remains an issue for developers, who fear losing tenants to rivals with lower initial shopping center costs. About 43 percent of the respondents said they had rejected a design with superior environmental qualities because of the cost. Performance was the most important factor cited in building materials selection (55.7 percent said so), while sustainability was dramatically less important (3.4 percent).
To encourage retail developers to take advantage of the government incentives available and help disseminate the industry’s shared green knowledge, ICSC has created the Sustainable Energy and Environmental Design, or SEED, program. The SEED program conducted the survey as an aid to determining how best to further sustainability among shopping center developers. Benchmarking is likely to be a big part of the program. One in five of the survey respondents reported already having a good idea how well their facilities stacked up against industry best practices for energy efficiency, while roughly 80 percent expressed a desire for such information.
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