With the release of its fourth annual Sustainable Living Index, AMLI Residential reports that 83% of its residents believe that living in a green apartment is beneficial to their health—up 3% over last year’s percentage.
When asked about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their preferences, 71% of residents reported that they place increased value on healthy building features as a direct result of COVID-19. In addition, 41% said they believe that they will be working from home more in 2021 than they did before the pandemic.
“We are grateful that more residents completed this year’s survey than ever before. The high response rate demonstrates our residents’ keen interest in our communities’ healthy building features. They also want to see our features expanded, and we plan to improve our communities to meet this demand,” says Phil Tague, president of AMLI Residential. “AMLI’s broadening use of LEED and other third-party certifications gives our residents context to compare an AMLI community with our competitors. With a much larger percentage of residents working from home over the last five months, and into the foreseeable future, the healthy, green features inside and outside of their apartment homes are more important than ever.”
Residents of LEED-certified AMLI communities were more likely than residents of non-LEED AMLI communities to report that green features affected their decision to lease at AMLI, or to report financial savings from energy-efficient features. Fresh air initiatives, energy-efficiency savings on utilities, and smoke-free living were among the top three green features chosen by survey respondents.
On the topic of climate change, 89% said they are concerned—matching last year’s share—while 75% said their desire to find a solution has risen over the past five years. Ninety-two percent of AMLI residents reported that they regularly recycle, and half of that number said that they always recycle.
AMLI expects to use this data to continue to expand its sustainability initiatives across its apartment portfolio. At present, 40 of AMLI’s 69 communities have attained LEED certification at some level, with eight of those communities holding a LEED Platinum certification.
“Most AMLI residents express their concern about climate change and its ramifications. They realize that their lifestyle at our communities affects the environment and their health,” Tague adds. “AMLI prioritizes sustainable practices that are pragmatic and meaningful to make sure our communities’ features are aligned with our residents’ desires. In each of our surveys, we see residents expressing an increasing sense of urgency. That is a great motivator for AMLI to keep its foot on the sustainability accelerator.”