LOS ANGELES-A new report from the National Resources Defense Council reveals the range of benefits of green infrastructure when implemented in private commercial property. The key benefits include improved storm water management and increased property values.

The report describes green infrastructure as green rooftops, landscaping with rain gardens and bioswales, rain barrels and permeable pavement. Each of these features helps increase value. According to the study, green rooftops receive rental increases of up to 16% and can last twice as long as traditional rooftops, minimizing replacement and repair costs. Thoughtful landscaping has been known to increase office building rental rates by 7% while rain barrels and permeable pavement reduce water costs.

Likewise, green titles, such as LEED certifications, can increase overall property values. As a result, several new developments are obtaining these green titles to boost values, including the recently unveiled $44 million sciences complex at Los Angeles Harbor College, which has a LEED Platinum certification.

Storm water management is another major benefit of green infrastructure. In some markets, this can lead to reduced utility fees and in other markets storm water fee credits. The report also notes that the credit and reduced fees alone are often not enough to encourage installation. Other benefits of green infrastructure include energy savings, increased mental health and worker productivity for office employees and reduced crime.

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Kelsi Maree Borland

Kelsi Maree Borland is a freelance journalist and magazine writer based in Los Angeles, California. For more than 5 years, she has extensively reported on the commercial real estate industry, covering major deals across all commercial asset classes, investment strategy and capital markets trends, market commentary, economic trends and new technologies disrupting and revolutionizing the industry. Her work appears daily on GlobeSt.com and regularly in Real Estate Forum Magazine. As a magazine writer, she covers lifestyle and travel trends. Her work has appeared in Angeleno, Los Angeles Magazine, Travel and Leisure and more.

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