Commercial Lending Terms

a developing sector

In recent years, environmental or "? green" properties have become an important part of many redevelopment initiatives, and the increasing acceptance of environmental building has led to significant increases in commercial property financing. We will examine the response of the lending syndicate to environmental developments, building and refurbishment schemes in this paper.

More and more institutions are providing commercial credit programmes that allow investors easy credit for the development of greenhouse gas emissions-free building or the retrofitting of already built facilities with greenhouse gas-neutral up-grades. The development of expert knowledge in the field of greenhouse gas emission reduction project reinsurance, the assessment of the uniqueness of such schemes and the integration of environment concerns into their lending traditions are some of the approaches adopted by creditors to "green lending".

" In fact, some creditors have reduced the borrowing costs for those who develop environmental friendly schemes. We appreciate greens. Drafting and implementing greenhouse gas emission reduction legislation is a major issue for creditors funding greenhouse gas emission reduction schemes. The originator and underwriter, as well as the property professional contributing to the endorsement processes, such as appraiser and insurer, take into account the particularities of greenhouse building in order to make an accurate value contribution to a finance.

Borrowers can best be serviced on a project with an associated rebate on costs for environmental amenities if they work with a creditor who has environmental amenities and therefore is more aware of the value that the environmental amenities add to the property and includes the higher value of those amenities in the overall value of the property.

The higher attributable value may lead to higher cost of constructing, in which case the creditor may be able to authorise higher loans to the builder or proprietor. On the other hand, a creditor who does not focus on the economy of greenhouse gas emissions can actually discourage the value of a greenhouse gas emissions reduction by using average rent, occupancy, expenditure and value rates in his analyses, which gives the value of the greenhouse gas emissions reduction and reduces the amount of credit.

We believe it is certain that in the not too remote near term most, if not all, large creditors will concentrate on the impact of a real estate investment on the value of the real estate and the associated costs. Whilst many creditors, particularly municipal and retail bankers, depend heavily on ratings norms such as Lead to assess the eligibility of a development as a renewable or "sustainable" development, they still tend to take into account the different elements involved in Leadership in Development (LEED) certifications to assess the real estate and mortgages.

A number of central bankers have built up internal knowledge to analyse the properties of a property rather than using only third-party creditworthiness. Wells Fargo's Senior Vice President in Environmental Financing, Paul Brumbaum, says that while Flemish Life Energy supports Flemish Life as an important bench marker, it does not strongly depend on Flemish Life Energy and other third parties to underwrite a credit facility.

e3bank, a recently established financial institution, is a self-proclaimed San Francisco-based global financial institution. e3bank Chairman and Co-Founder Sandy Wiggins and the immediate predecessor of the U.S. Global Building Council, as well as Co-Founder and President and CEO Frank J. Baldassarre, Jr., suggest that corporate citizenship and business prosperity need not be incompatible.

Wiggins said that the EIB intended to provide its clients with a gradual reduction in its interest rates, linked to each stage in the Leonardo da Vinci project's credit assessment, both at the time of the original conclusion and during the life of the loans. A number of central bankers have either set up credit programmes or made pledges.

Wells Fargo, for example, in 2005 heralded its involvement in greenhouse gas emissions reduction and has committed more than $2 billion to LEED-certified construction in 2005. Likewise, the Bank of America in 2007 announces that it will provide part of an $18 billion, eco-friendly and cutting-edge programme of new LEED-certified property project funding goods, service and technology.

Eleven the establishment of high-calibre greens lending programmes at the central bank level provides an important credit shot in this relatively young sector. There will be a number of advantages associated with greenhouse construction, such as the beneficial financial effect, the targeted increase in user efficiency and the beneficial effects on user safety, user welfare, PR, marketing on the basis of responsible use of the environment, the recruiting of responsible staff and the maintenance of valued residents.

However, the ultimate outcome of lending successfully in the field of the environment will depend on its viability. A lot of proponents of green lending say that they are more precious than their non-green equivalents; all other things being equal. What is more, what is more, green building is a more sustainable option. At least in part, this alleged value appreciation is due to the thesis that greenhouse gas emissions will create higher consumption demands and lead to higher estimates, higher selling costs, higher occupation and higher rentals.

These allegations are backed up by the results of a recent executive research study conducted by Turner Construction Company, which shows that (a) about 75 per cent of managers say that greenhouse builds have higher property value than similar non-green structures, (b) about 65 per cent of managers say that such greenhouse builds charge higher rent, and (c) about 50 per cent of managers say that greenhouse builds offer a higher rate of Return on Invest ing and higher usage ratios.

Only a few years ago, the bonus for the building of LEED-certified premises was prohibitively expensive, making it hard to finance these ventures. Recently, with technological progress and the pressures from and on end consumers to lower manufacturing prices, this building subsidy has been falling. Michael Dean, Chief Sustainability Officer of Turner' Sustainability Company, says that greenhouse gas emission reductions should not necessarily be more expensive than their non-green colleagues.

In Dean' s estimation, LEED Silver can usually be obtained with a 0-2 per cent build bonus over similar non-green structures, while LEED Gold can achieve a 1-4 per cent build bonus over similar non-green structures. According to Dean, new ventures show that certain advantages of greenhouse gas emissions can be realized without significant (or no) increases in the cost of constructing.

Increased promotion of greenhouse gas emissions at the national, state and municipal level is another element that complements the greenhouse gas emissions case. In recent years, the German Confederation and several states have passed laws that provide fiscal advantages for the deployment of greenhouse gas emissions. For example, the 2008 Swiss Energy Supply Improvement and Expansion Act prolonged by five years the provisions permitting immediate deductions (rather than capitalisation) of the costs of qualified energy-saving enhancements to commercial premises.

Maryland 18 allows districts and local businesses to provide certain real estate taxes for LEED certified properties. New York State's 19 New York State' green construction levy system, mandated in 2000, allows designers who fulfill certain admission requirements to request a $3.75 per sq.ft refund on their state income taxes for certain leasehold works and $7.50 per sq.ft for certain basic construction works for the construction of greenhouse constructions.

Oregon offers a Business Energy Tax Credit 20 calculated according to the LEED ratings and the dimensions of the city. In order to obtain the loan, a property must have at least a silver ranking. An LEED Platinum-rated edifice with an area of more than 50,000 sq ft can count on a $4 per sq ft capital charge for certain nuclear and structural works, while an LEED Gold-rated edifice with an area of more than 50,000 sq ft can count on up to $2 per sq ft for such works.

In Nevada, building owners are rewarded with a real estate rebate of up to 25 per cent per annum for building with silver rating according to Leeds, 30 per cent per annum for building with gold rating according to Leeds and 35 per cent per annum for building with platinum rating according to Leeds. As a consequence, a large number of Nevada based companies are following up on the achievement of Leonardo da Vinci certification.

The recent convergence of new state legislation and rules29 promoting or mandating LEED-certified buildings is expected to lead to an increased volume of environmentally friendly buildings being built and renovated in the years ahead, which in turn should provide significant new possibilities for the banking industry. Creditors who subscribe to environmental schemes can attach value to these schemes on the basis of these rules and legislation.

Support for accelerated approval or specific approval, for example, can help to make timely work easier and thus reduce the risk for the creditor of the work. Lending in Greenland seems to be pointing up. Approximately 12 billion dollars in greenhouse gas emissions were completed in 2008 and are expected to rise to 60 billion dollars by 2010.

At the end of 2007, there were fewer than 100 old-age ( "LEED EB") certified properties in the USA. This begs the issue of how the dynamics of greenhouse gas emissions are increasing: will creditors remain ahead of the curve or will they make up for lost ground? There is no doubt that the public banks' attitude to granting loans is affected by their responsibilities to stockholders.

Lender endeavours to integrate corporate citizenship into their lending practice are and will be co-ordinated with a commitment to maximise shareholder value. There is no question that over the course of a period of time environmentally friendly credit programmes with fiscal incentive will prove to be commercially sustainable. Clearly, builders, owners, financiers and creditors are increasingly focusing on building and lending projects.

"You had to explain why you built tomorrow, five years ago," says Ron Hubert, a scientist at the Center for Sustainable Environments at North Arizona University. "The whole sector is developing, and as the cost of buildings is falling and there is increasing policy pressures and societal dynamism, the argument for environmentally friendly development is gaining in importance.

As both governments and individual businesses begin to set LEED or other " gREEN " standards, the importance of LEED is set to grow, increasing the opportunities for greenhouse gas emitters. Soon " grün " could very well become a new benchmark for commercial property financing.