A report released last week by Jones Lang LaSalle’s 2012 Global Real Estate Transparency Index reveals a renewed impetus in transparency improvements across the world’s real estate markets. Nearly 90% of markets have registered progress in transparency since 2010. The United States ranks as the world’s most transparent real estate market in 2012, followed by United Kingdom and Australia. Read More

In a working paper by noted economist and professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkley, John M. Quigley shows that historically, rents for green offices have been shown to demand a nearly 2% rental premium over comparable buildings. These premiums, Quigley argues, are related to the building’s energy-saving characteristics. Read More

Grubb & Ellis Company, one of the largest commercial real estate services and investment companies, released its 2010 Real Estate Forecast, expecting the recovery of commercial real estate to begin in 2011. “The national economy has begun a slow and cautious recovery, but the labor market, which often lags the broader economy, will turn around only gradually with sustained improvement unlikely before the second half of 2010. Because commercial real estate lags the labor market, it still has a ways to go before reaching its own low point,” said Bob Bach, senior vice president, chief economist of Grubb & Ellis. Read More

With Thanksgiving only two days away, we wanted to post this story about Greening your Thanksgiving by Sierra Club’s Cara Longpre. Read More

FedEx and UPS are both becoming green. Are they doing it to help the environment or as a better business practice? An article by Marc Gunther explores both UPS and FedEx’s sustainability practices. Regardless of who is “greener,” the fact that major companies are competing to be more environmentally efficient and sensitive makes everyone win. Read More

Jim Witkin of the New York Times and Green Inc. recently interviewed Eric G. Olson a management consultant and author of the coming book “Better Green Business.” Read More

There’s an interesting article published recently about “earn-outs,” by merger-and-acquisition guru Scott Lochner. Read More

Applied Materials is one of the most important U.S. companies you’ve probably never heard of. It makes the machines that make the microchips that go inside your computer. The chip business, though, is volatile, so in 2004, Mark Splinter, Applied Materials’ CEO, decided to add a new business line to take advantage of the company’s nanotechnology capabilities- making the machines that make solar panels. Read More

Ever wonder how that little radio you bought for less than $5 at Radio Shack was made? Where did the materials come from, who assembled it, how did it make it all the way to your local store for less than five bucks, and where does it go when you throw it away? Read More

I recently read a statistic from the National Association of Home Builders that between 40 to 50% of homes to be built in 2010 are expected to be green. With the word “green” being thrown around a lot these days, I decided to talk to Keith Rodgers of Rome Construction in South Carolina. Rodgers has been in construction for over 23 years and has helped lead the charge towards sustainable home building in the South since 2004 when he built the first Earth Craft (green building standard) home in South Carolina. Read More