In support of Savills assertion that German offices are green by default - it seems that, compared to other European cities, Germany's urban centers are better than average and among the best when it comes to protecting the climate and the environment. This is the finding of the German Green City Index, an urban study commissioned by Siemens from the Economist Intelligence Unit.
The study (in German) scores each city in eight areas: Air quality, CO2 emissions, Energy, Buildings, Traffic, Water quality, Litter and Environmental management.
As far as CO2 emissions are concerned Stockholm and Oslo are way out in front but London does pretty well with an above average score alongside Berlin, Paris and Helsinki amongst others. The laggards here are Kiev and Sofia but there are a clutch of below average cities including Dublin, Budapest and Prague.
Predictably, London does badly as far as traffic is concerned alongside Paris and Rome amongst others, but is in the middle of the pack with respect to building standards, energy, air quality and litter.
The latter feels counter intuitive. Perhaps it is the discarded coffee cups bowling down the road on a stiff breeze or the forests worth of free papers littering the station precincts or just the remains of last night's chicken Dansak thrown out of the car window, but London feels full of rubbish.
As far as building standards are concerned, all the German cities studied are above average with the exception of Cologne. A similar story can be seen as far as traffic management is concerned except the miscreant here is Leipzig - only average I am afraid.
Water quality sees all the German cities above average bar none. London's water also passed with flying colours (five times!). Air quality saw a broader spread with Athens one of the laggards - tear gas probably the reason.
