Sustainability Innovation Equals Improved Building Performance: Forum
Watch the full video recap here.
Commercial real estate executives have made the case for the practicality of implementing sustainability in their portfolios beyond just societal expectations.
Commercial Observer on Wednesday hosted its virtual Sustainability Forum: The Cutting-Edge Innovations Transforming Business, in which panelists discussed the reasons why they view sustainability as a good financial decision and how they are scaling innovation to not only meet tenant demand, but also to save money down the line.
Emceed by Cathy Cunningham, CO’s executive editor, the event started off with a panel called From Policy to Portfolio Performance: How ESG Regulation is Reshaping Institutional Real Estate Investment, moderated by Evolution Sustainability Group’s Chuck Hurchalla. Others on the panel were Empire State Realty Trust’s Dana Schneider, Silverstein Properties’ Jonathan Hong, Kilroy Realty’s Sarah King and Greystar’s Cope Willis. (ESG is short for environmental, social and corporate governance.)
The takeaway? Policies are inconsistent across different markets, so it’s best to be forward-thinking and invest in the latest technology, which also tends to be the most sustainable.
Commercial Observer’s Sustainability Forum panel: Ben Myers, Apaulo Malloy, Elizabeth Redmond, Lisa Brylowski, Scott Thomsen. SCREENSHOT: Commercial Observer
“It makes sense to invest in these things whether it’s for compliance or not,” Schneider said. “Most major cities in the U.S. and many abroad have policies that can be inconsistent, even between the U.K. and the E.U., and there are a lot of inconsistencies in America. There is no federal policy here. … In absence of regulation, what we have focused on is to look at the life cycle of our assets and major equipment, and do long-term planning.”
The second, and last, panel of the day, The Real Value of Sustainability: The Importance of ESG in Sourcing Capital & Driving Asset Valuations, was moderated by R-Zero’s Elizabeth Redmond and included panelists such as BXP’s Ben Myers, LuxWall’s Scott Thomsen, Brookfield Real Estate’s Lisa Brylowski and KBS’s Apaulo Malloy.
But before capital can be allocated and the net benefit for a portfolio considered, landlords need to start small by launching new technologies on one or two buildings at a time.
“When we introduce a new energy management system, we’re not just trying to be innovative. There is a learning curve and you need a good partner to make sure it implements,” Malloy said. “I like to pilot two different types of buildings because if I know if it works at a very high-performing building and one that just might be an older building that still performs well, but it’s just not up to date, then I know everything in between will be OK. That’s when you can get more buy-in.”
Marc DeLuca from KBS closed the event in a fireside chat with Cunningham, in which he spoke about where landlords should begin if they’re trying to up their sustainability game.
Marc DeLuca. SCREENSHOT: Commercial Observer
“It doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Crawl before you walk,” DeLuca said. “We started with targeted initiatives, something you can see and measure. … That allowed us to start to grow it a little bit, but I think what’s important about those measurable results is that if you try to do everything at once, it’s overwhelming. Two, you’re setting yourself up for failure. And number three, the data that’s involved in doing that creates such an environment that you’re going to be like, ‘Why am I wasting my time?’”
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
Source: commercialobserver.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.