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The interruption of business operations from severe weather-related events is of increasing concern, making climate change a key factor when companies are looking to open facilities in new locations.
Partner with an organization that can help the company understand the risk profile of climate change in a specific location from a political, financial and regulatory point of view, and create a resilience strategy in line with risks.
Climate change risk profile
Renewable-energy strategy
Sourcing renewable energy is a key factor in reaching energy efficiency goals. Buying renewable energy through a third party (traditional power supplier or other independent clean-power generator) or self-generating renewable energy (i.e. solar panels) are viable options to consider before resorting to buying renewable-energy credits.
Create a renewable energy strategy early in the process and identify the type of clean energy you are going to either self-generate or source (solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, biogas, low impact hydroelectricity). Understand jurisdictional policies and incentives to support renewable energy. Energy-efficient action items should always connect to publicly stated sustainability goals.
Urban transportation infrastructure is rapidly changing and is an important factor in understanding how a chosen location supports green modes of transportation, from pedestrian access to electric transit.
Understand the walk score of the location, access to bicycle paths and access to public transit, especially sustainable mass transit. Additionally, understanding future needs such as EV charging stations is of increasing interest.
Green commute options
Opportunities may exist for an occupier to anchor a new eco-friendly district, which could provide increased brand recognition and/or financial incentives.
Seek out the local economic development entity to provide guidance on local incentives available to new-to-market companies.
Sustainable business improvement districts
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Although green building certifications can sometimes be limited as a point-in-time measure, they can still make an excellent starting block for seeking a landlord who can act as a partner for an occupier’s ESG goals.
Understand the sustainable certifications that are most important to your ESG goals and determine how essential that criteria is in your site selection process. This will add incentive to track progress and could encourage greater reward for good performance.
Sustainable building certification
The landlord-tenant relationship is critical to ensure shared goals around ESG efforts related to the building today and in the future through ongoing engagement between both parties.
Conduct due diligence on any potential landlord partner to understand the role they play in tenant engagement and sustainability-related activities today and in the future.
Landlord engagement
A green lease includes smart, energy-aligned clauses that unlock win-win investments that incentivize energy efficiency and sustainability for both the landlord and tenant. By adding green principles to a lease, landlords and tenants collaboratively transform buildings into higher-performing ones.
Explore establishing a “green lease,” as the move to net zero could make this a long-term requirement. Along with promoting the implementation of sustainable building operations, these leases can specifically realign energy cost structures, allowing both the occupier and landlord to benefit financially by conserving resources and ensuring the efficient operation of a building.
“Green leasing”
Traditional lease vs. Flexible space agreement
Moving to an on-demand space model may allow tenants with inconsistent or uncertain headcount requirements to reduce underutilized space in their traditional portfolio, therefore reducing waste.
Determine if new workplace policies (e.g., Hybrid) will drive a different portfolio strategy more reliant on flexible office space, allowing the tenant to stay agile in the future.
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High-Impact Opportunities
The sometimes-substantial activities of other parties in the Build process, (developers, building contractors, designers, fit-out specialists etc.) can produce hidden environmental costs.
Consider adoption of a Charter or Code of Conduct among partners to establish common best practice standards and performance-based contracting.
Role and impact of your partners and suppliers
Evaluate materials, furnishings, and equipment that meet technical specifications for form and function while minimizing the environmental impact to produce and operate.
Implement responsible sourcing principles and work with suppliers to choose materials that are durable, sustainably sourced, low-carbon and designed for adaptability in the future.
Material selection
Energy efficiency is the foundation of achieving carbon goals, minimized business interruptions, and reduced operational costs.. Retrofitting existing building systems can create more efficient energy consumption.
Understand which strategies will help minimize the need for energy use in buildings (especially for heating and cooling) through Energy Conservation Measures (ECMs), asset performance, and potentially adopt renewable-energy technologies (RETs), such as locally-sited solar generation and energy storage, to meet the remaining energy needs. Explore potential for ratings such as NABERS and Energy Star.
Energy-efficient opportunities
Sustainable building certification
Depending on the procurement route chosen and the rigor of local certification systems, these may provide sufficient assurance around sustainability, but it is worth evaluating certification plans against specified aims.
Determine how your sustainability goals and actions in the new project apply to various certifications and if attaining those certifications should be an objective.
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High-Impact Opportunities
Gain visibility into the Tier 1 and downstream suppliers of facilities management with the goal of decarbonizing the operational supply chain.
Engage, measure and monitor current and future suppliers on environmental sustainability initiatives —unify goals through vendor selection criteria and/or by instituting a sustainability code of conduct.
Role and impact of your partners and suppliers
Individual and collective behaviors are a major part of achieving sustainability goals, especially around recycling, water usage and lighting. In turn, employees often value seeing visible actions, which reduces their own skepticism of their employer’s efforts.
Take steps to inform and influence the behaviors you desire from your occupant population through transparent reporting, gamifying and general education on sustainability actions and targets.
Inform and influence organizational behaviors
From bike racks to electrical vehicle charging stations, buildings have more accessible measures that allow their employees to use more sustainable ways of commuting to work.
Based on your employees’ commuting habits, preferences and available options, identify ways that your building can support them to commute in a more sustainable fashion.
Promote and support sustainable travel patterns
Improve operational management and enhance asset performance
Assessing how the facility measures up with sustainability practices and benchmarks around energy, water and waste is an essential starting point to uncovering the opportunities to increase sustainability.
Conduct a sustainability audit to compare your practices with the best practices of sustainability, and identify potential operational opportunities and capital improvements. Prioritize an ESG strategy or Net Zero Carbon (NZC) action plan and require a budget based on findings.
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High-Impact Opportunities
The sometimes-substantial activities of other parties in the Build process, (developers, building contractors, designers, fit-out specialists etc.) can produce hidden environmental costs.
Consider adoption of a Charter or Code of Conduct among partners to establish common best practice standards and performance-based contracting.
Understand the role and impact of your partners and suppliers
Standardized reporting continues to evolve for ESG initiatives. Occupiers need to identify methods and frameworks best suited to ensure consistency and transparency in reporting on issues that are material to their stakeholders.
Adopt frameworks from key organizations that identify and report on material issues. These frameworks also ensure consistency and transparency in reporting.
Materiality, consistency and transparency
Setting specific and measurable targets is critical to supporting ESG initiatives and the increasing need for reporting.
Adopt existing or new frameworks that track a variety of ESG metrics:
People: Diversity reporting, wage gaps and health and safety metrics
Planet: Greenhouse gas emissions, land protection and water use
Prosperity: Employment and wealth generation, taxes paid and research and development expenses
Portfolio Optimization: plan and metrics, minimization of space and gap analysis
Metrics & specific/measurable goals
Business strategy & resources
Incorporating ESG into the overall business strategy and operational plan enables companies to demonstrate their ESG performance as well as evaluate their future resiliency. Additional resources will likely be required across the organization.
Align targets with business strategy and CRE decisions. Establish measurements that are regular and ongoing. Determine resources needed to make an impact, including technology and tools that advance ESG initiatives.
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High-Impact Opportunities