Demand for sustainable office space in Poland: the results from a conjoint experiment in Krakow

The purpose of this paper is to assess the demand and to estimate the willingness to pay for sustainable (certified) office space in Poland.

Due to limited data on sustainable property performance in Poland, the research is based on stated-preference data. The main research tool is conjoint experiment, run on a sample of office tenants in Krakow.

Highest utility for office tenants in Poland is linked to BREEAM certificate (highest willingness to pay for having BREEAM certified office space. Slightly lower propensity to pay was observed for LEED certificate. The lowest willingness to pay was estimated for DGNB certificate. One of possible explanations is connected to tenants awareness (BREEAM is the most common certificate in Poland).

The research results suggest increasing demand for sustainable office space in Poland, reflected by willingness to pay for sustainable office space. The main limitations of the research are twofold: geographical limitation (only one city) and hypothetical nature of choices made by tenants in the quasi-experiment.

The results of the research can justify the engagement of investors in sustainable property development in Poland and foster the development of this respective sector.

The paper is unique as it explores the potential for sustainable property development in emerging economies, which is not a common area of scientific interest mainly due to data availability. Traditionally most research focusses on mature markets in North America, and Western Europe, and empirical evidence from less developed markets is scarce. Few papers (if any) use quasi-experimental setting to elicit implicit price of ecological certificates.