Sustainability in the real estate sector
The environmental footprint of real estate is globally very significant with buildings consuming around 40% of the world’s energy and contributing up to 30% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. In view of this, the real estate sector is focussing on sustainability, with leading institutional investors incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of their assets into their investment processes. A push for ESG is not only being driven internally by the sector; regulators mandate it, and now tenants and owners are demanding it. Even major stock exchanges around the globe have developed guides to ESG reporting including the NYSE, LSE and ASX.
The Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) is the global standard for ESG benchmarking and reporting for listed property companies, private property funds, developers and investors that invest directly in real estate. GRESB is an industry-driven organisation committed to helping real-estate investors assess the performance of portfolios and infrastructure assets. It is supported by the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ASCI). In 2017, 850 participants, covering 62 countries with $3.7 trillion in assets participated in the 2017 GRESB Real Estate Assessment. The Assessment evaluated performance against seven areas using approximately 50 indicators, such as energy consumption, GHG emissions, water consumption and waste.
As a member of the international Inogen Environmental Alliance, Peter J Ramsay & Associates is a Global Partner of GRESB. We are well placed to assist the property sector to manage ESG data and improve ESG performance. We offer services across all stages the real estate life cycle from acquisition, development, occupation and operation, to divestment. Our services include:
- Environmental due diligence
- Preliminary and detailed site investigations (Phase 1 and Phase 2)
- Environmental Planning and Permitting
- Construction EHS Management
- Remediation Design and Management
- Verification of ESG performance data
- Environmental Management and Monitoring
- Occupational Health Hygiene and Wellbeing
- Waste Management
Peter J Ramsay & Associates can assist you in managing real estate related-risks and enhance value in your portfolio.