Energy-efficient office building construction is changing commercial real estate dramatically.

Today’s green buildings have an important impact on our economy. In Florida, it’s breakthrough sustainable developments alongside new green buildings, like a high ratio parking structure, visions of incorporating office/hotel/retail components and an urban style which are setting trends. The rise of green buildings and the surge of impact that it has had on the economy is predicted to save more than $1 billion in energy use and over $100 million in water usage by 2018. Top commercial real estate companies understand that having a comprehensive industry standard such as LEED are significant. The green building of the 21st century integrates whole life-cycle consideration in building conception, design, and maintenance. It is resourceful, energy efficient, and can maintain tremendous sustainability in materials and processes. Most importantly, the new energy-efficient office building constructions of the 21st century meets the demands of emerging sustainable development problems which cities and communities across the country are faced with. Global climate change is a growing concern for America’s future. Environmental and efficient buildings have already transformed the economy. Areas of commercial real estate development construction, building design, and operations are already being transformed.

There are many opportunities, in fact, with embracing energy-efficient real estate development. Organizations and developers must adapt to a more refined approach — including, obtaining an LEED certification — as well as ensure their real estate strategies can adopt new approaches to tenant engagement and comprehensive energy management. It is important to focus on the bottom line and know what is best to incorporate. These steps are relatively easy to mitigate with the right planning. In many ways, green buildings offer many opportunities when it comes to its potential and becoming a pioneer in commercial property development:

500 TownPark is a 135,000 square foot Class A LEED. The 500 TownPark is located within the Colonial TownPark development complex in Lake Mary, Florida. Thanks to Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc., the property broke recent ground with local development partner, Providence One Partners and secured a new anchor insurance tenant CNA which signed for a lease occupying 108,000 square feet until 2017. The new $30 million, 135,000-square-foot green office project is located at 500 Colonial Center Parkway, in the Colonial TownPark development. The four-story building also features a 600-space parking structure. Today, over 81 million buildings in the United States consume a massive amount of resources while at the same time negatively impacting the environment. The property is expected to be a 4-story Class A LEED certified office building. The 500 TownPark is a great example of properties which are setting United States office buildings on the right course for sustainable development

The 500 TownPark is just one of many properties which have become the green office buildings of the future in Florida. The green building sector is outpacing overall construction growth in the U.S. and will account for more than 2.3 million American jobs this year, according to a new United States Green Building Council (USGBC) study from Booz Allen Hamilton. Fortunately for commercial property development in Florida, green building is providing a lot of opportunities for construction in the area. Total state earnings related to LEED building construction projects alone are estimated to total $8.4 billion by 2018.

“Green building is playing a massive role in the U.S. construction sector, the clean and efficient energy sector and the U.S. economy as a whole,” said Rick Fedrizzi, CEO and founding chair, USGBC. “More than 2.3 million U.S. workers are taking home $134 billion annually in large part because of green building programs like LEED. Demand for green building will only continue to grow as individuals, businesses and institutions continue to prioritize sustainable approaches to the design, construction and operations of our built environment.”

Commercial property development which integrates green building is more than just moving everything magically into the future. The economic ramifications are real for the United States, your organization and for cities and communities — areas we will address more in future posts.