Search Results for: sustain

September 10, 2016

Home working myths + Millennial’s needs + Global sustainability ⁰

by Sara Bean • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Newsletter, Property, Workplace, Workplace design

In this week’s Newsletter; Mark Eltringham finds some global patterns in office design, but many local differences; suggests we stop treating Generation Y as an alien species; and shares a new report which suggests that younger people are in fact people after all. A new study finds that the perceived benefits of working from home disappear over time; Germans now work significantly longer hours than twenty years ago; and two thirds of those who have worked as an independent contractor in the US would choose not to do so again. The commercial office sector leads the global property market in sustainability; Mothers with young children are a third less likely to be in work than fathers; and we round up the latest post-Brexit news. Download our new Briefing, produced in partnership with Boss Design on the link between culture and workplace strategy and design; visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

September 9, 2016

Office property sector leads global real estate market in sustainability ⁰

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property, Wellbeing

The global real estate market is showing signs of improvement across all areas of environmental, social and governance performance (ESG) including a 1.2 percent reduction in energy consumption, 2 percent reduction in GHG emissions and close to 1 percent reduction in water use. It is also placing greater focus on occupant health and well-being. This is according to the latest data compiled by GRESB, a benchmarking organisation for real estate companies and funds which evaluates sustainability practices in the global real estate sector. In the results for the 2016 GRESB Real Estate, Developer and Debt assessments, which analyses the sustainability performance of more than 1,100 real estate portfolios of both private equity and listed companies, Australian entities outperformed all other regions with an average score of 74, which is 14 points above the global average; and office companies and funds outperformed other property types with an average score of 66.

August 9, 2016

UK and Australia lead the world in tech use for sustainable development ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, News, Wellbeing

A new report from the United Nations claims to identify the world’s leading nations in the use of the Internet to support sustainable development. The E-Government Survey 2016, assesses how e-government principles are applied to support the UN’s 15 year plan to use sustainable development to end poverty, boost growth and tackle climate change. The report highlights how the application of new technology can make government institutions more transparent, accountable and effective, encourage democratic participation, improve the delivery of services and allow policy makers to take account of the big picture when coming to decisions. The report claims that the UK government is setting worldwide standards for other countries to emulate. The model is replicated in Australia, Europe and New Zealand. South Korea was placed third and the report highlights successes in countries like Turkey and China, but states that many regions are not taking advantage of the opportunities offered them by the Internet.

June 3, 2016

Commercial real estate failing to meet sustainability standards ⁰

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

There is an urgent need for more action and greater leadership in tackling sustainability requirements in commercial real estate. Just a handful of large companies are meeting sustainability challenges, according to Bilfinger GVA’s sixth Green to Gold survey on the risks of rising sustainability pressures and market demands, with the progress being made not as strong as expected. Although 84 percent of respondents acknowledged that they have a sustainability strategy in place, there are still huge gaps that need to be filled in order to meet appropriate standards. Only 50 percent admitted to assessing operational energy efficiency, whilst 63 percent are not assigning specific figures for the costs or benefits of sustainability issues in investment appraisal calculations. Added to this, 43 percent are yet to assess their portfolio’s risk profile with regards to Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards. This means the industry now finds itself with more to achieve in significantly less time.

April 26, 2016

New agreement to drive sustainable property development in Europe ⁰

by Sara Bean • Cities, Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

The World Green Building Council (WGBC) – a network of national green building councils aimed at influencing the green building marketplace – has announced that its Europe Regional Network has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to help drive sustainable property development with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The EBRD works to support the development of the private sector across Europe, the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean and Central Asia, and the provision of modern real estate infrastructure is essential to support economic expansion and diversification in these regions. The new agreement provides a framework to cooperate on a number of areas of sustainable building practices, including promoting best industry standards and practices for energy and resource efficiency, climate resilience and building sustainability; promoting innovative zero-waste design, green urban planning and low carbon emissions; engaging in policy dialogue; and mobilisation of financial resources.

March 16, 2016

A new guide to delivering successful sustainable fit-out projects ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, Facilities management, News, Workplace design

Today marks the publication of a new guide which claims to help contractors and end-users deliver sustainable fit-out projects. Published by trade body the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA), the Fit-out environmental good practice on site guide (C757) claims to be a more practical guide than other publications and standards and addresses the most important challenges for those responsible for fit-outs across a range of sectors including offices, retail, education, leisure and health. The authors claim that the fit-out sector faces unique challenges that include the need for a quick turnaround of projects, the need to control costs as well as deal with project specific site constraints. The guide aims to help the managers of fit-out projects to meet these challenges as well as helping them to deliver projects that are sustainable both during the fit-out phase, occupancy and the life of the completed project.

February 23, 2016

High demand in Dubai office market continues to sustain rents ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

Office rents in Dubai’s main markets have remained strong as a result of continued high demand from both international and domestic occupiers, reports Cluttons, but despite a sustained demand, occupiers remain cost conscious and budget driven in the face of a softening global economic backdrop. Landlords, by contrast appear to be slow to react to a cooling market, with many reluctant to move on asking prices and others demonstrating a lack of flexibility for lease terms at renewal. The emerging gulf between market reality and landlords’ expectations is a concern, says Faisal Durrani, Cluttons’ head of research, “particularly for a market that is now starting to show signs of maturity.” The analysis of the performance of 22 submarkets across the city in the first quarter of the year reveals that 13 submarkets witnessed no change in starting rents in 2015, seven experienced notable increases and the remaining two lower limit rents decreased over the 12 months of 2015.

June 17, 2015

Eight sustainability megatrends that will impact on UK real estate

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

The ‘Big Eight’ sustainability megatrends that will impact on real estate over the next 15-20 years have been identified in a new report by JLL. Analysing a total of 40 themes, JLL’s Upstream Sustainability Services team claims to have pinpointed eight interconnected trends which are most critical. These are the low carbon economy; technological innovation; urbanisation; land and resource scarcity; workforce transformation; changing demographics; health and wellness; and transparency and social value. According to the report these trends present opportunities as well as risks. Forward-thinking companies which are able to unpick and manage climate change and extreme weather risk, build resilient supply chains, exploit the latest developments in technology, and anticipate the needs of the modern office worker or consumer will stay competitive and succeed.

June 12, 2015

‘Trailblazing’ firm wins Gold Award for sustainable buildings

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

Environmental engineers Max Fordham have been named Gold Award winners in the 2015 Ashden Awards which champion sustainable buildings. The firm, which was the recipient of the Ashden Award for Sustainable Buildings, works with architects to minimise the energy requirements of new buildings. This results in buildings that can meet many of their own lighting, heating and air conditioning needs through measures such as harnessing natural light and ventilation. Its work on new buildings – such as the Hive [pictured] can cut carbon emissions by up to 50 percent. Demand Logic, a clean tech company that helps large buildings make big savings on their energy bills, won the 2015 Impax Ashden Award for Energy Innovation for a cloud-based system which plugs into the management system of commercial buildings and detects what it calls ‘energy insanities’ where, for example, energy sapping systems such as boilers are left on when not needed.

April 24, 2015

Are these this year’s ten most sustainable buildings in North America? ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, News

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) have selected what they claim are the nation’s top ten examples of sustainable architecture and ecological design projects. The COTE Top Ten Awards program, now in its 19th year, claims to be the profession’s most rigorous recognition program for sustainable buildings. The program highlights projects that are the result of an “integrated approach to architecture, natural systems and technology … which make a positive contribution to their communities, improve comfort for building occupants and reduce environmental impacts through strategies such as reuse of existing structures, connection to transit systems, low-impact and regenerative site development, energy and water conservation, use of sustainable or renewable construction materials, and design that improves indoor air quality.”

April 12, 2015

Green Sky Thinking to focus on designing in sustainability for London ⁰

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Green infrastructure, social sustainability and intelligent design are the main themes for this year’s Green Sky Thinking event, which takes place between 20-24 April. The event includes a range of informal session and on-site talks that highlight what the organisers claim is best practice on how to ‘design in’ sustainability. The purpose of the programme, led by Open-City, is to enable those working within the built environment to see real life sustainable solutions, talking face to face with those responsible for designing, delivering and managing successful schemes. Its ultimate aim is to help them gain a holistic and cross-disciplinary understanding of how sustainable development is being practically applied across London, while understanding the current technologies, policy and thinking and how these translate into practice.

March 23, 2015

Property investors favour sustainable buildings, claims report

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

Property owners could make a greater return on their investments if they improved the sustainable credentials of their buildings, according to a new report published by CBRE. According to the study of 280 investors published in the Investor Intentions Survey 2015, a growing number are taking into account environmental considerations which they consider have a direct influence on the returns and value of their assets. Nearly three-quarters (70 percent) believe sustainability is either a critical or desirable criterion when making investment decisions with only 15 percent claiming that “sustainability is not a significant consideration in selecting assets to buy”. The report’s authors claim that while the property industry has been seeking evidence of the financial benefits of sustainable buildings for some time, this has been difficult to define given the complex factors that influence transaction prices.