Green office space is pretty common in Denver now, but adoption hasn't been uniform marketwide, and there are still opportunities for some properties to stand out simply for having green features. CBRE director, research and analysis, Jessica Ostermick tells us why.

1. Tenants Are Now Almost All on Board

"Tenant preference is ultimately driving green building adoption, but owners and local governments are willing partners because of the broad benefits," Jessica says. It’s a given that new Class-A buildings will be built green, she adds. According to the 2015 Green Building Adoption Index, a joint project of CBRE and Maastricht University, Denver's No. 6 nationally in green office space, which counts buildings holding LEED or Energy Star cert or both. Denver edged out LA this year for the spot.

2. Adoption is Uneven in the Building Stock

Denver’s submarkets vary in terms of green building adoption. Downtown Denver displays one of the strongest adoption rates of any national submarket, with 45.4% of all buildings certified, according to CBRE. The adoption rates for LEED and Energy Star in Northwest and Southeast Denver are substantially lower, at 19.7% and 21.5%, respectively. Moreover, smaller existing buildings tend to be less green; nationwide, only 4.5% of all office buildings less than 100k SF are certified.

3. Smaller Buildings Can Benefit from Green

The study also found that owners of small buildings have an opportunity to differentiate themselves by implementing energy-efficient practices. "The opportunity to add value to an existing building by deploying green strategies is really where owners can differentiate the asset and broaden the pool of potential tenants—and to garner a higher lease rate in some cases," Jessica says.