What does ESG have to do with office space?
Arkadiusz Rudzki
Design, price, proximity to schools, the length of the commute. For decades, European home purchasers have weighed up a largely unchanging set of factors when choosing a property.
But those priorities are shifting, experts say, following huge spikes in energy prices and amid rising public awareness of the built environment’s contribution to global warming. Instead, features such as air source heat pumps, solar panels, and energy efficiency are increasingly important attributes as consumers seek to cut their expenses while addressing the climate challenge.
Tenant and investor perspective
The survey helped us better understand office users’ perspective, but how about tenants’ and investors’ views? Location is crucial for these groups as well. Other important factors include cost, modern design aligned with (employer) brand identity, technology that future-proofs the building and – more and more often – alignment with ESG (environmental, social, governance) criteria. If renting or buying, could the office contribute to tenants’ or investors’ sustainability objectives?
The importance of ESG
ESG and sustainable development have become one of the main trends in the business world. Sustainable development is attracting more strategic attention from companies, due to topics such as:
- Climate change having an increasing effect on people and societies across the globe
- Growing social awareness of the impact businesses can have on the natural environment
- Evolving employees’ priorities and expectations of their employers and/or new regulation
Your office can help deliver on sustainability strategy
When buying, designing and building or renting office real estate, it’s worth remembering that this decision may have considerable impact on your company’s ability to deliver on its sustainability strategy. An office that supports environmental, social and governance goals can have a positive impact on this ability, while serving as a physical manifestation of company’s strategy and values, especially if they link to United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which many companies’ do.
Read more of Arkadiusz’s blog posts on LinkedIn
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What ESG has to do with office real estate?