Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to research the impact of sustainable office buildings on occupant's comfort and self-assessed performance and work engagement. Design/methodology/approach -The research consists in an empirical study of 18 office buildings and is based on survey data from almost 1,500 employees. Findings -The study shows that the building itself has a clear impact on the comfort level of the building user. Also, the positive impact of certain features, such as operable windows and the absence of air conditioning, can be clearly identified. While productivity is not directly correlated to comfort levels, work engagement is. Generally, the analysis shows that specific building aspects seem to have an influence on user comfort and with that, also an impact on productivity; however, this impact appears to be limited. Originality/value -This is a very important insight since this shows the connection between employee and company and thus demonstrates that a high user comfort can reduce the turnover rate of employees. Therefore, additional planning towards user comfort and social sustainability can be shown to yield real returns.

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Given the centrality of the price mechanism to resource allocation in market economies, the financial effects of sustainable construction have become an increasingly important empirical issue in the real estate industry. Drawing upon a sample of approximately 2,500 residential building units in Switzerland, this study assess the effects of buildings' sustainability of its rental price. In contrast to the vast majority of previous studies that have focussed on the price effects of ecolabels, this study investigates the effects of different sustainability criteria. We find that the sustainability of residential buildings positively affects their rental prices. Sustainable building characteristics, especially those which enhance the water efficiency, the health and comfort level and the building's safety and security, have significant positive price effects.

The proportion of sustainable property in the total building stock remains small. One reason is that the financial added value resulting from sustainability is not sufficiently taken into account in property valuation due to the tendency of valuations to lag behind market trends. This article presents the development of a new approach that attempts to provide the quantitative information necessary to integrate those aspects of sustainability relating to value into valuations and thereby contribute to reducing the valuation lag. The CCRS Economic Sustainability Indicator ESI measures the risk of property to lose and the opportunity to gain value due to future developments like climate change or rising energy prices. Five groups of value-related sustainability features were identified: flexibility and polyvalence, energy and water dependency, accessibility and mobility, security, health and comfort. By minimizing the risk of loss in value through future developments, those sustainability features contribute to the property value. Their effects on property value were quantified by risk modelling. As an indicator for future-oriented property risk, ESI is integrated in the discount rate of Discounted Cash Flow (DCF ) valuations. The approach has been tested for plausibility and practicability on more than 200 properties. Sustainability and property valuation: a risk-based approach AbstractThe proportion of sustainable property in the total building stock remains small. One reason is that the financial added value resulting from sustainability is not sufficiently taken into account in property valuation due to the tendency of valuations to lag behind market trends. This article presents the development of a new approach that attempts to provide the quantitative information necessary to integrate those aspects of sustainability relating to value into valuations and thereby contribute to reducing the valuation lag. The CCRS Economic Sustainability Indicator ESI measures the risk of property to lose and the opportunity to gain value due to future developments like climate change or rising energy prices. Five groups of value-related sustainability features were identified: flexibility and polyvalence, energy and water dependency, accessibility and mobility, security, health and comfort. By minimizing the risk of loss in value through future developments, those sustainability features contribute to the property value. Their effects on property value were quantified by risk modelling. As an indicator for future-oriented property risk, ESI is integrated in the discount rate of Discounted Cash Flow (DCF ) valuations. The approach has been tested for plausibility and practicability on more than 200 properties.

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