Europe’s real estate industry achieved a roughly 6% like-for-like reduction in both greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption last year, according to the annual report of GRESB, the global standard for portfolio-level sustainability assessment in the sector.
Europe’s real estate industry achieved a roughly 6% like-for-like reduction in both greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption last year, according to the annual report of GRESB, the global standard for portfolio-level sustainability assessment in the sector.
The figure is more than double the result accomplished on a global basis, where GRESB reported a 3.04% and 2.87% reduction respectively for GHG emissions and energy consumption in 2014. The also posted a significant uptake in on-site renewable energy generation which amounted to 445GWh in 2015 (or 0.5% of total energy consumption), a strong increase from 296GWh in 2014.
The data and report are based on an assessment of 707 property companies and private equity real estate funds globally, representing 61,000 assets and $2.3 trl in asset value. This represents an 11% response growth from 2014, showing growing willingness by property companies and funds to report on sustainability issues.
Europe
European participation in the 2015 GRESB assessment also increased strongly to a total of 380 entities, representing $750 mln of assets. Most European portfolios assessed are allocated in the UK (139), the Netherlands (41) and France (30). Notably, participation strongly increased in the Nordics (from 21 to 41) and in Germany (25).
According to Nils Kok, CEO of GRESB, the global real estate sector is increasingly integrating environmental, social and governance considerations into corporate policies and business strategy.
'This is reflected in widespread adoption of sustainability management practices and on-going efforts to address critical issues related to energy, water, waste, and human health. The recent reductions in energy and water consumption, and the carbon footprint achieved by the commercial real estate sector are impressive, yet in absolute terms, the sector’s environmental impact is significant and more work remains to be done,' commented Kok.
Regional points
In terms of regions, European entities scored an average of 56 points on the GRESB scale, a stunning increase of 18% to the previous year. The region performs slightly better than Asia and North America (both 54). However, Australia/NZ remains the global leaders, with an average score of 69.
Kok: 'We believe that we are now at the point where most of the commercial sector thinks about sustainability and all of the managers have green policies in place and implement real sustainability measures. From a policy perspective, this is quite exciting because if the sector continues on this path, it is going to give a major help to governments to reach their environmental targets. In fact we do believe the industry is ahead of the public sector.'