In the latest results from the Real Estate Environmental Benchmark, members of the Better Buildings Partnership, continue to demonstrate improvements in energy efficiency across their property portfolios, improving at an average rate off 3.9% per year over the past 6 years.
Each year, the UK’s leading commercial property owners submit data on their managed UK commercial property portfolios to the Real Estate Environmental Benchmark (REEB). With no other initiative operating at such a scale, it provides a valuable insight into the latest energy performance of commercial property in the UK and the current direction of travel.
A major output of REEB is to produce operational energy and water benchmarks for the wider industry that allow organisations to compare how their own properties are performing. The latest benchmarks which have been updated using the most recent data are available here.
A 2017 Snapshot has also been published highlighting key facts and energy performance trends of BBP members’. Key highlights include:
- Data coverage – 26 companies submitted data on 683 properties, covering over 7.1 million m2 of UK commercial real estate. Floor area covered by REEB has increased by 122% the past 5 years, showing continual growth.
- Performance improvements – since 2010/11 the energy intensity of the benchmark portfolio has improved at an average rate of 3.9% each year totalling 18% over 6 years. However, the data suggests the rate is slowing, with energy intensity improving only 1% this year.
- Energy savings – 98 GWH of energy saved since 2012, equating to over £10 million worth of reduced energy costs for occupiers and saving over 35,000 tonnes of CO2.
BBP Programme Director, Sarah Ratcliffe said: “With participation in the REEB survey increasing significantly this year, this latest BBP report demonstrates that the ‘performance-in use’ of UK property assets is becoming a headline issue for major UK property owners. This, together with the major improvements in data quality and integrity this year, makes REEB one of the most up-to-date, relevant and important benchmarks for the industry.”
Group Head of Sustainability, Hammerson and BBP Chair, Louise Ellison said: "Understanding building energy demand and being able to compare data within and across portfolios and against a trusted benchmark, is essntial to driving continued improvement. As the only publicly available performance in-use benchmark available for commercial buildings in the UK, REEB is an important initiative and I am delighted to see it growing. The slowing in improvements this year is an interesting finding and one I am sure the BBP members will be looking at in more detail over the coming months."
See the full report here.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
The Better Buildings Partnership (BBP) is a collaboration of the UK’s leading property owners who are working together to improve the sustainability of the UK’s existing commercial buildings. The organisation's aim is to deliver market transformation through sustainability leadership and knowledge sharing across the UK property industry. The BBP currently has 30 members who represent in excess of £200bn Assets Under Management (AUM). The Better Buildings Partnership is a not for profit collaboration of the UK’s leading commercial property owners who are working together to improve the sustainability performance of existing buildings.
It has 30 Members who include Aberdeen Standard Investment, Aviva Investors, Blackstone, British Land, Bruntwood, Cadogan, Canary Wharf Group, Capital & Regional, CLS Holdings, Cording Real Estate Group, Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, Great Portland Estates, Grosvenor, Hammerson, Hermes Investment Management, intu Properties, Landsec, LaSalle, Investment Management, Legal & General Investment Management, Lendlease Investment Management, Low Carbon Workplace, M&G Real Estate, Norges Bank Real Estate, SEGRO, Shaftesbury, Schroder Real Estate, TH Real Estate, The Crown Estate, Transport for London and Workspace.