Integrating sustainability into property risk assessments for market transformation

One way to increase the demand for sustainable buildings is through the description, assessment, and communication of their economic advantages and reduced risks in comparison with conventional buildings. These benefits can also be expressed through favourable lending and insurance conditions. However, a precondition is the integration of sustainability issues into the processes used by the financial and insurance industries for assessing property assets (e.g. risk assessment, rating, and valuation). Thus, the valuation and property rating process itself and those involved with it have a key role. Due to new international banking capital adequacy rules (Basel II), property rating and risk assessment systems are being further developed and implemented by a number of European banks. To some extent, these systems already contain direct or indirect approaches for integrating sustainability issues. Test-ratings reveal banks' existing methodologies, instruments, and criteria for assessing property assets (as well as their cash flow generation) can be harnessed to express and communicate the advantages and benefits of sustainable buildings. The inclusion of sustainability-related rating criteria sends out an important signal to the property market and holds a huge potential for market transformation. However, the property-rating process should be linked more closely to and underpinned by the results of existing assessment methods and instruments developed by the sustainable building community.