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Autumn / Winter 2022
Issue #3
What
IS THE INDUSTRY DOING?

WHAT ROLE DO INDUSTRY ORGANISATIONS HAVE IN LEADING AND DIRECTING INITIATIVES AND BEST PRACTICE?

Multistakeholder collaboration is key in making environmental improvements to the built environment. Firstly, it is more efficient to learn and adapt together than to each go our own way. There is also something about shared responsibility that helps to motivate us to change our practices more quickly. So it is not surprising that industry organisations are working closely with members to provide guidance, support and strategy to meet these goals. The following case studies provide an overview of what industry organisations concerned with retail real estate and retail places are working towards with their members.

The BBP1 is a collaboration of the UK’s leading commercial property owners who are working together to improve the sustainability of existing commercial building stock, with aims to guide the industry in:

  1. Delivering building performance, by supporting members and the industry in delivering operational excellence.
  2. Improving professional understanding, by mainstreaming sustainability skills and providing guidance for non-sustainability professionals.
  3. Stimulating market transformation, by enabling investors and occupiers to understand and act upon sustainability to drive change.

KEY INITIATIVES INCLUDE:
UK NET ZERO CARBON BUILDINGS STANDARD

A cross-industry steering group, representing stakeholders across the built environment, have joined together to develop a standard for verifying UK buildings as net zero carbon. The UKGBC’s Whole Life Carbon Roadmap demonstrates that buildings are directly responsible for around a quarter of carbon emitted by the UK. There is no credible pathway for the UK economy to reach net zero without tackling emissions associated with the construction and operation of our buildings. While significant progress has been made in defining what ‘net zero’ means for buildings in the UK, there is clear demand for a single, agreed methodology. The UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard will enable industry to robustly prove their built assets are net zero carbon and in line with our nation’s climate targets. Leading industry organisations BBP, BRE, the Carbon Trust, CIBSE, IStructE, LETI, RIBA, RICS, and UKGBC have joined forces to champion this initiative. The standard will cover both new and existing buildings and will set out performance targets addressing operational energy and embodied carbon emissions to align with the UK’s 2035 and 2050 emissions targets (78% reduction and net zero respectively). It will also cover the procurement of renewable energy and the treatment of residual emissions, including carbon offsetting.

THE REAL ESTATE ENVIRONMENTAL BENCHMARK (REEB)

Every year, members of the Better Buildings Partnership (BBP) submit data on their managed UK commercial real estate portfolio into the Real Estate Environmental Benchmark (REEB). REEB is one of the only benchmarks based on the performance of buildings ‘in-use’ and is increasingly becoming the industry standard used by investors, fund managers and property owners to compare the performance of commercial properties across the UK. The REEB dataset continues to grow, with a 171% increase in floor area over the last 10 years and a total of 1,142 properties benchmarked in 2019/20.

THE MANAGING AGENTS PARTNERSHIP

Since the Managing Agents Partnership (MAP) launched in 2015, it has gone from strength to strength. The MAP project provides an open forum for managing agents to collaborate and develop common approaches to industry challenges. In June 2021, BBP launched the Responsible Property Management Toolkit to the industry, which provides practical guidance for asset managers, property managers and facilities managers on embedding sustainability within property management services. MAP focuses on the following key topics:

  • Responsible Property Management
  • Managing for Performance
  • Net Zero Carbon
  • Social Value
  • Waste Management

RICS2 is providing guidance on a number of strategic sustainability goals in order to reduce the carbon impact of the built environment.

INTERNATIONAL COST MANAGEMENT STANDARDS (ICMS)

RICS is one of 49 globally prominent organisations that have developed ICMS 3 – a world first for cost and carbon management in construction, from concept to completion and beyond. ICMS 3 will contribute positively to efforts to decarbonise the construction sector in the most cost-effective way, empowering professionals to deliver a globally consistent method for carbon lifestyle reporting across different projects.

BUILT ENVIRONMENT CARBON DATABASE

RICS is leading on the development of a free to access Built Environment Carbon Database in collaboration with organisations covering the breadth of the UK built environment. With the built environment contributing around 40% of total global emissions, the UK construction industry faces a seismic challenge as we strive towards decarbonisation. Achieving consistency in how we report and measure emissions and supporting that measurement with up-to-date accessible data will be vital. In a great step towards this, key built environment organisations representing the majority of the UK construction industry have committed to advocating the widespread use of the carbon database, including among their members. It’s designed to be the main source of data for carbon estimating and benchmarking in the UK construction sector, serving as a practical tool to support the decarbonisation of our buildings and infrastructure. Organisations involved in the development of the Built Environment Carbon Database are BRE, Carbon Trust, CIBSE, CIC, CIOB, ICE, IStruct, RIBA, RICS, UK GBC and the Environment Agency.

GUIDANCE AND STRATEGIC ADVICE ON SUSTAINABILITY AND ESG IN COMMERCIAL PROPERTY VALUATION

This global guidance provides a practical framework for delivering on sustainability and ESG investigation, reporting requirements in professional valuation advice, and providing practical and globally relevant principles for the delivery of the sustainability and ESG requirements adopted in the Red Book Global Standards. This includes:

  1. Good practice advice supporting everyday commercial valuation practice and its interface with ESG and sustainability.
  2. Alignment of ESG and sustainability considerations with the core mechanics of valuation (purpose, basis, approach).
  3. A glossary of globally relevant sustainability and ESG terms and an appendix referencing world-leading rating, benchmarking and performance frameworks and tools.

UKGBC3 is an industry-led network with a mission to radically improve the sustainability of the built environment by transforming the way it is planned, designed, constructed, maintained and operated. UKGBC launched its Advancing Net Zero programme in 2018 to help drive this transition in the UK and deliver the emissions reductions required from the construction and property sectors. Their vision is to ensure the built environment enables people and planet to thrive by:

  • Mitigating and adapting to climate change
  • Eliminating waste and maximising resource efficiency
  • Embracing and restoring nature and promoting biodiversity
  • Optimising the health and wellbeing of people
  • Creating long-term value for society and improving quality of life

UKGBC plays a critical role in convening built environment businesses to share knowledge and accelerate learning while scaling up the adoption of best practices. Work across all five of UKGBC’s impact areas has brought together hundreds of stakeholders, from the property and construction industry and beyond, to cocreate and adopt new guidance and to share insights and lessons learnt from implementing it. In addition, member forums (including Members Advisory Group, contractors, infrastructure and university research forums) convene meetings for special interest groups to find new collaborative ways of overcoming the common sustainability challenges they each face.

The BRC’s Climate Action Roadmap4, published in November 2020, is the retail industry’s commitment to deliver net zero in their own operations and the products they sell by 2040. An ambitious initiative, it will make a huge contribution to the UK’s overall climate strategy, particularly reducing carbon in the products we buy that account for nearly a third of household emissions. The roadmap has the support of the majority of UK retail brands, from the largest stores to small chains, on the high street and online, including both owner occupied and leased assets. They have come together to find collective, practical solutions to the challenge of reducing carbon, working with suppliers and consumers to deliver net zero via five pathways. The roadmap and its pathways related to shops and their buildings are discussed by BRC’s Dominic Curran in this publication5:

  1. Putting greenhouse gas data at the core of business decision making
  2. Operating efficient sites powered by renewable energy
  3. Operating efficient sites powered by renewable energy
  4. Sustainable sourcing
  5. Helping our employees and customers to live low carbon lifestyles.

Revo6 supports the interests and values of the whole retail, leisure, and placemaking real estate community.

It is the forum for its members to network, share experience, provoke thinking and lead the evolution of the built environment. Revo’s current member-led sustainability projects include:

  1. Regulatory Route-mapping – an ongoing multi-format project to assist members plan for upcoming and proposed changes in ESG related regulations, including issues such as the friction between MEES and de-carbonisation, district heat networks, corporate governance and reporting obligations.
  1.  
  2. Value of a Just Transition to Net Zero – providing guidance and thought leadership on the issue of ensuring that the ’costs’ of the race to net zero are understood and managed, so they don’t fall on those least able to “pay” for them.
  3. Energy Efficiency and Service Charges – investigating the impact of ESG on service charges in light of the RICS Professional Standards, and proposed changes to energy efficiency regulation. Also providing guidance and sharing knowledge on green lease policies and drafting.
  4. Revo’s Social Value Toolkit launched in the summer of 2020 provides a framework for its members to create open, healthy and inclusive retail spaces that build social communities and provide open, accessible and inclusive space at the heart of their local community.

City centre stakeholders that come together as a property association, enable landlords with common geographies and goals to have a single voice. The WPA7 is the voice of property in Central London and is a not-forprofit advocacy group representing over 240 members from across Westminster’s built environment. Their membership is diverse and covers the full spectrum of the industry, including commercial, retail and residential sectors. In November 2020, WPA produced a white paper on decarbonising the City’s built environment, with a vision for net zero by 2040. Westminster City Council (WCC) has set a bold ambition, aiming to transform the City of Westminster with ‘climate first’ objectives. This 2040 target has been further articulated and contextualised in this white paper to set an overarching vision for a built environment of the future with net zero carbon emissions. These targets are articulated as:

  1. By 2040, Westminster’s heritage assets will be adapted and retrofitted to be resilient to climate change and updated to optimise their energy efficiency, using sensitive solutions which preserve their historic significance.
  1.  
  2. All new developments will be ‘net zero carbon’ by 2030: fully electrified (or using other low carbon heating options) and powered by renewable energy. Whole life carbon will be significantly reduced by adopting circular economy principles and innovative construction materials and processes.
  3. All remaining building stock will be made energy efficient through appropriate retrofit and de-carbonised energy and heating systems.
  4. The City’s high quality public realm will be created with low carbon materials, and designed to be flexible and adaptable to meet the needs of residents, workers and visitors.
  5. Any unavoidable carbon emissions are offset through credible programmes that maximise benefits for the local community.
  6. Monitoring and performance disclosure against Westminster’s net zero carbon targets will set new standards for transparency and reporting in the built environment.

These outcomes are intrinsically linked to the decarbonisation of transport, freight delivery and waste collections, which serve and support Westminster’s built environment. The success of a net zero carbon city will not just be measured in carbon reductions but will simultaneously benefit the community and economy by strengthening climate resilience, innovation, job creation, supporting a green recovery and creating a healthier environment for all.

1betterbuildingspartnership.co.uk

2rics.org

3ukgbc.org

4brc.org.uk/climate-roadmap

5See BRC Climate Action Roadmap article p.88

6revocommunity.org

7westminsterpropertyassociation.com