80% Of Singapore Office Space Certified As Eco-friendly
SINGAPORE – Nearly 80 percent of the 69.7 million sq ft of office space across the city-state tracked by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) are certified as green, according to an article written by the property consultancy that was posted on The Edge on Friday morning (10 December, SGT).
“The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major wake-up call regarding the importance of ESG matters,” wrote Michelle Tee, Director of research & consultancy at JLL Singapore.
“As markets normalise and people return to the office, demand for greener, more sustainable spaces and healthy working environments has been amplified and they are now of paramount concern.”
A recent poll of 478 office occupants in Asia Pacific that was conducted by JLL shows that the 3rd most important consideration when leasing after location and rent is sustainability. In fact, 70 percent of tenants are willing to fork out up to a 10 percent premium in rent to occupy green-certified office buildings.
In Singapore, the majority Green Mark-certified office properties are situated in the central business district (CBD) and CBD Fringe sub-markets, but they can also be found in Orchard and decentralised sub-markets, albeit in fewer numbers.
“A substantial 57 percent of the BCA Green Mark-certified buildings have obtained the top-tier Green Mark rating of Platinum. They include buildings such as 79 Robinson Road, Afro-Asia, Asia Square Towers 1 and 2, Guoco Tower, Frasers Tower, Marina Bay Financial Centre Towers 1 to 3, and Marina One located in the CBD,” Tee noted.
In the CBD Fringe, such commercial properties comprise Lazada One and the Bugis Junction Towers. In Orchard, there’s The Heeren and Ngee Ann City. Over in Singapore’s Decentralised sub-market, you can find The Metropolis and Paya Lebar.
Notably, Green Mark Platinum-certified office buildings could potentially attain 30 percent more energy savings versus non-Green Mark office properties.
Of the certified office towers, 21 percent have been granted the GoldPlus certification, 17 percent are Gold certified, while the remaining 5 percent have obtained the basic Green Mark certification.
