Green strategies are seen to have a greater impact on real estate decisions of office occupiers said property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle Singapore in its recently released global study, Future of Work 2022.

The study covering 13 key global markets, including global leaders USA, China, Japan, Middle East, UK, and Australia, cited that 56 percent of the commercial real estate occupiers surveyed are already paying or are willing to pay a premium to occupy space that has leading sustainability and green credentials.

"In the Philippines, we have been seeing this preferential shift to green and sustainable office spaces pre-pandemic. We believe that this is the result of the People, Planet, Performance agenda prioritization across companies worldwide," said Maricel Brion-Lirio, Filinvest REIT president.

"Our experience with our global client portfolio attests to a similar conclusion as JLL that the 'green shift' has grown considerably over the past few years. This allowed us to leverage on our strengths and further unlock value for Filinvest REIT Corp., the first sustainability-themed REIT listed on the local bourse," she added.

FILRT boasts of a portfolio that consists of 17 Grade A office buildings, which include green and sustainability-themed features. Of these, 16 are in Northgate Cyberzone in Filinvest City in Alabang. Filinvest City is the first central business district in the Philippines to receive LEED® v4 Gold for Neighborhood Development Plan certification for its township-wide green and sustainability features.

Filinvest City is also the first and only CBD to receive a 3-star BERDE rating. Rounding up the portfolio is Filinvest Cyberzone Cebu, a PEZA-accredited joint venture development with the Province of Cebu.

FILRT was recently recognized by Real Estate Asia Awards as the REIT Initiative of the Year and Office Development of the Year together with the prestigious Asia CEO Awards as a Circle of Excellence Awardee for Sustainability Company of the Year.

LEED or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is the most widely used green building rating system in the world created by the US Green Building Council. LEED certified buildings save money, improve efficiency, lower carbon emissions and create healthier places for people.