The Challenges of Identifying and Examining Links between Sustainability and Value: Evidence from Australia and New Zealand

A commonly-accepted observation by industry stakeholders is that the financial benefits of sustainable real estate investment are inherently difficult to quantify (RICS, 2009). The lack of transparent financial correlations between sustainability and economic return in real estate has created major issues for real estate appraisers and valuers seeking to accurately reflect the impact of sustainability. This paper argues the lack of transparency with financial drivers restricts substantial investment in sustainability because stakeholders have limited ability to measure the sustainability of the building or understand the impact on value.