At one point in time the only circumstance for businesses seeking out commercial space was functional. The location of the building, and the modus operandi were enough to know how good the office space would be. Even though for many years buildings that were designed to be sustainable, few buildings reached construction.

Tenants say that they would like to take the properties, but very few were available.  Constructors are of the opinion that they could build them but there isn’t any demand from developers. Developers have claimed that the investors wouldn’t pay on their behalf, and the investors said that there wasn’t any demand from tenants. 

On the other hand, the concern of society for the environment appears to be flirting into the commercial property market, with the demand for the environment issue going up. On top of it, it is coupled with new policies laid down to support the building industry to take an active stance in order to prove efficiency. The research proved that half of all the commercial tenants who were reviewed would be prepared to pay more rent for good buildings. 45 per cent of occupiers, on the question of relocating to another office building, said that green issues would be very important in any future decisions.  Half of the occupiers commented that environmental issues were important to their corporate accommodations strategies in five years. A lot of the people who were appraised said that energy efficient heating systems and an adaptable interior were important. 

Even though the fear for the future condition of the environment is a reason of vexation to many, part of it is purely practical. Taking steps on issues such as contamination will be seen to be good for the image of the corporate. Meanwhile improved energy competence should assist in reducing costs through lower expenditure. Meanwhile, the government is encouraging this trend by backing it with legislation and directives that would encourage concern for efficiency. The Government has an aim of cutting 60 per cent of carbon discharges by 2050.

That buildings account for half of the total carbon emission by the United Kingdom was set down by the White Paper on energy in 2003. It meant that the commercial property sector would play an important role if the goals were to be fulfilled.  In order to accomplish the goal of reduction in emission, efficiency would be required to improve, and to fulfill this the government has introduced new energy performance standards that come into effect in January 2006. 

From this date, the government would require new energy performance for all the buildings constructed, sold or rented out. In buildings that are owned publicly, it should be displayed prominently. The certificates, which would rank buildings from very, to not energy efficient, are an attempt to encourage awareness and create a market for energy saving buildings. From the onset of the new regulations, the point to which business property tenants are concerned for efficient buildings would grow in the coming years. For a lot of companies, concern for the effect on the environment would be a focus, even though rent would remain very important to their thinking.