This summer's London Crane Survey points to a rebounding development market across the capital. Perhaps unsurprisingly, driven by a combination of planning policy and the expectations of investors and occupiers, BREEAM now stands as a de facto badge of credibility for new product in core markets. Our research shows that 83% of developments in the survey are seeking to achieve a BREEAM rating. Half of those are seeking an 'Excellent' rating, with three schemes targeting 'Outstanding'; the highest rating available.

That said, the continued prevalence of BREEAM within the London market masks a number of interesting and emergent dynamics. Notably, LEED, a broadly comparable environmental rating system of US provenance, and with significant global traction (3bn square feet certified globally1), has begun to gain significant popularity in prime London market contexts where product vies for the attention of global investors and multinational corporate occupiers.

As demonstrated in the figures below, the number of LEED registrations in the UK has grown rapidly over the last decade. With the total square footage now more than 22 millon sqft across the UK, London is the leading market attracting LEED certification with most of the undisclosed site locations believed to be in London as well as those specifically listed as such.

data source2

Perhaps more significantly, we are seeing an ever greater focus on real performance metrics throughout design, procurement and occupancy processes, a reflection of the market's increasingly apparent recognition of the risks and costs associated with substantial performance gaps emerging between design expectations and occupied premises. A number of developers and occupiers are beginning to realise that securing a BREEAM or LEED rating will not guarantee good performance in occupation. This is a function of myriad potential limitations in the design, procurement, installation, commissioning and operational processes, which the majority of green building rating tools do not address.

Moving forward, the recent publication of tools such as PAS 1192-3:20143 and the Soft Landings Framework4 provide opportunities for development teams to utilise Building Information Modelling and Soft Landings approaches to address operational performance across the whole building lifecycle.

As the market embeds these approaches into schemes, occupiers stand to benefit from lower operating costs, better performance against Corporate Responsibility KPIs, and lower exposure to environmental risks, including those arising from the complex policy framework in this area. As a result, we expect developers and property owners who embrace the principles of soft landings to be able to further differentiate their product in the market, ultimately leading to better returns.

Footnotes

1 http://www.usgbc.org/articles/three-billion-square-feet-green-building-space-leed%C2%AE-certified

2 http://www.usgbc.org/projects

3 Specification for Information Management for the Operational Phase of Assets Using Building Information Modelling (BIM)

4 https://www.bsria.co.uk/news/article/soft-landings-framework//

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