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Financial Performance of High-Performance Buildings

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently partnered with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and Real Estate Research Institute (RERI) to catalyze research around the financial performance of high-performing, energy-efficient buildings to develop insights that influence commercial real estate practitioners and drive further investment in energy efficiency. By 2040, it’s expected the commercial real estate sector will consume 27% of all energy in the U.S. While there is a growing interest and increase in certified green and energy-efficient buildings, they still don't represent a significant portion of the commercial real estate sector. DOE recently commissioned a literature review of peer-reviewed and published academic papers pertaining to green or energy-related building attributes and financial performance. The four papers featured here describe insights and next steps for transforming green building investment practices in the commercial real estate industry.