Sustainability drivers and barriers

Abstract

In Prague the development of certified office buildings has been steadily increasing in past years with the third-party certifications as LEED or BREEAM. However, the involved actors have not yet fully acknowledged the added value of these certifications, as the willingness to pay more for the sustainability features in the office buildings remains low. The main aim of this research is to map the current state of the sustainability readiness of the Prague office market and to evaluate the sustainability awareness and behaviour of developers, investors and tenants. Such is done by mapping the theoretical drivers and barriers towards the sustainable office development in the worldwide literature and comparing them to the real perceptions of the actors in Prague. By this comparison it could be spotted, if and to what extent the national context influences the drivers and behaviour of actors within the sustainable office development. As the market state is also influenced by the national and local governmental policies, these are investigated as well. Completing this overview on the Prague local market’s perception from all the different viewpoints is an important step as not much research has yet been done in the field of the sustainable built environment in the Czech Republic. Mapping the factors for and against the sustainable office development both in theory and practice allows spotting opportunities, which could be the focus in speeding up the potential future development.