Motivating Factors for IREM Certified Sustainable Property (CSP) Adoption Within the United States Multifamily Rental Sector

Demand for sustainability practices within the built environment continue to increase. In light of this, much research has been conducted to uncover the reasons for this demand across stakeholders (Darko et al.). However, the main focus of the extant research has been from the building design and construction perspective versus existing building perspective. As the vast majority of the building stock are existing buildings, investigation into the motivating factors for sustainability practices within this space is also essential. The IREM CSP green building label, introduced in 2015, focuses exclusively on existing buildings and offers certification across various commercial real estate sectors. The aim of this study is to examine the drivers for IREM CSP adoption within the multifamily rental sector; a sector differentiated by lease provisions and lease terms that vary from other commercial real estate sectors. This is accomplished through a series of semi-structured interviews across positions spanning from property manager to C-suite executive and cutting across owner firms, third-party property management firms, owner-manager firms, and consultant firms. These results help to begin filling a research gap by identifying important motivations for green building practices specific to the building operation phase of the building lifecycle.