We provide policy guidelines to our property managers to implement sustainability measures. Property agents have to submit their annual budget including investment on sustainability measures. The approved budget is monitored on a quarterly basis.
All of our property managers have been instructed to improve the efficiency of our properties and to implement sustainable measures. The measures vary by property type, but energy efficiency, water savings and recycling are encouraged for all properties. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are used to measure the following: integral planning of maintenance cost and projects; reduction of energy and water consumption; optimisation of lifecycle costs; security and environment.
We collaborate with property management firms and ESG consultants on best practice ideas and ESG training. The ideas and strategies are jointly discussed before approved and implemented.
The property manager should manage the property in a sustainable way with the ultimate aim to reduce CO2 emissions in the lifecycle of a property. In this context the property manager should also encourage all suppliers to contribute to this objective. This may involve the following approaches and activities:
- Increasing the share of renewable energy in utility contracts
- Favouring regional suppliers who are close by for example less than 50km to reduce suppliers travelling long distance.
- Favouring suppliers who are proactive with respect to sustainable management, e.g. who are certified for quality and environmental management systems such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001
- The use of clean environmentally-friendly products.
- Implementing recycling programs
- Obtaining property-level green certifications
The property owner carries out a yearly sustainability rating of assets. The property manager or ESG consultant shall provide the necessary data at the owner's request (as far as this data is available) and shall help the owner to analyse the data in order to draw conclusions and develop measures for improvements.
With regard to occupier engagement, our standard leases require our tenants to abide by all sustainability rules and regulations for the properties, including recycling, construction practices and disposal of pre-existing materials and encourages them to work with us to improve the asset.