Real estate investors are finding that there is a lack of clear and defined guidelines relating to sustainable commercial property in Europe.
This is the finding of a recent study by Union Investment Real Estate, which highlighted the need to introduce criteria to evaluate a buildings' ecological stability.
According to the survey, only 24 per cent of investors questioned in Germany, France and the UK believe that there are currently clear guidelines and measures in place to work out the environmental impact of buildings in their respective countries.
However, despite this sustainable investment is still a prominent feature in the strategies of European property investors. Of those surveyed, 66 per cent plan to invest significantly more in green buildings in future, with 56 per cent seeing sustainability as important to their competitiveness.
Dr Reinhard Kutscher, chairman of the management board of Union Investment Real Estate, said: "More transparency is needed. Over the next couple of years, we will increasingly see investors comparing data and publishing it in the form of benchmarks."