LONDON-One in five surveyors globally believe that 90% of commercial real estate stock will fall short of meeting good sustainable standards by 2020 without a rethink of green incentives, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

In its survey of commercial property agents it says the numbers are even starker at a regional level with nearly half of all surveyors in Latin America believing it will take more than a decade for even a small minority of the commercial real estate stock to meet good sustainable standards such as those championed by LEED and BREEAM.

“Despite the general view that new buildings are meeting better standards, with new stock typically representing only 1-2% of existing supply in any one year, the survey of agents highlights the immense challenges that governments face in putting idealistic real estate plans into action on a global scale,” RICS said. It is calling for an urgent rethink to incentivise refurbishment of existing stock, saying this should be seen as a top priority over the coming decade.