The city's largest property owner - spurred by high energy prices and rising demand from tenants - is seeking "green" certification for all of its office buildings, marking a major milestone in Mayor Thomas M. Menino's push to make Boston the nation's most environmentally friendly city.
Equity Office Properties Trust, which owns 20 structures in and around Boston, is outfitting its buildings with features ranging from energy-saving heating and cooling units to new bike racks as part of a multimillion-dollar effort to stamp its buildings with the green label.
They're doing it as a social responsibility thing (it's a good thing to do) but also as a marketing and bottom line thing. They say clients are demanding green buildings when they shop for office space and that energy prices are getting so high that their initial investment in the work they do to "green" the buildings will pay off in the not so long haul.
And here's another motivating factor for companies looking to squeeze more out of workers. Modern benefit: this one won't kill workers.
Studies have shown that implementation of green technologies can increase productivity between 10 and 15 percent, according to the State Environmental Resources Center, an organization that tracks the impacts of green energy policies. The group cites research showing that cleaner air quality and better temperature control improves alertness of employees and decreases absenteeism.
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