Is sustainability in the commercial property industry just best practice management

Abstract

The commercial property market has been witnessing significant change over the past decade with continued importance being placed on sustainability by governments, occupiers and owners both globally and locally. However, exactly what owners and owners in property are actually undertaking in the guise of sustainability needs to be questioned. This research investigates key owners of property portfolios in Australia and New Zealand and examines what they perceive sustainability to mean to their commercial property portfolios. The research uses a qualitative framework in order to gain an understanding of owners' perceptions of sustainability in commercial property. The findings have identified owners perceive sustainability to be of high importance to the longevity of their portfolios, however, this is at present limited to resource efficiency measures in their property portfolios. Consequently, this research questions whether current interpretation and implementation of sustainability in commercial property is merely best practice management. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012.