Occupant experience provides the next important opportunity for differentiating commercial offices

Abstract

Recent research by CBRE and Maastricht University has confirmed that green building certification is well established in the class A commercial office market in the USA, with wide use of Energy Star and LEED certification. Given the overall prevalence of green in this market, building owners and occupiers can no longer rely on their embrace of green buildings to distinguish themselves from their competitors. Instead, a focus on the impact of a building on the occupants’ health and wellbeing is emerging as the next key differentiator in class A office space, driven by how the occupant experience can increase employee satisfaction and engagement, improve productivity and reduce healthcare costs. But the industry needs to commit to gathering more evidence on how buildings impact on their occupants in order to be able to create an incentive for the market to embrace occupant experience as a critical aspect of building portfolios.