The green preferences of office tenants in Malaysia

Abstract

Green building concept is growing over the years and has currently turned out to be one of the best business practice for many large companies in the country. As tenants and landlords became more environmentally conscious on the impact of buildings on the natural resources, demand for green buildings will increases continuously. The continuous sustainability on the usage of green buildings requires good understanding on the tenant’s needs and preferences. Apart from that, the need and preferences should also be parallel with the green building standard accreditation systems hence maximising the green value. The mainstream sustainability related research in the real estate sector has focused on green buildings in the area of construction, economical and technical approaches. This study concentrates on tenants’ considerations in relation to green building criteria. The aim of this study is to find out the green concept preferences among office tenants in relation to their occupied offices. The research methodology consisted a mixed of qualitative and quantitative approaches. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews involving 2 respondents as well as distribution of questionnaire survey to 72 respondents. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to analyse the data. The study outcome revealed that tenant preferences differ from the property manager’s criteria in the context of ranking and considered factors. The Green Building Index (GBI) accreditation system should consider and review the weightage of GBI scoring criteria by putting more emphasis on the criteria of indoor environmental quality as well as sustainable site planning and management. The results are useful to building owners in promoting their green buildings.