How can office landlords achieve ESG goals?

Only 38% of total Grade A office stock is environmentally certified, as per Colliers.

To maintain competitiveness and to abide by regulations on carbon neutrality targets, Colliers said office landlords must start working on achieving their Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) goals.

In a report, Colliers enumerated ways in how office landlords can achieve goals in each aspect of ESG

For the "Environmental" aspect of ESG, Colliers said landlords of new developments can help reduce pollutants such as greenhouse gases and save energy by reducing carbon emissions; adopting Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV), Modular Integrated Construction (MiC); and incorporating electric car parking and charging to help reduce carbon emissions. 

For landlords of existing buildings, Colliers said they can employ an energy performance contract (EPC), secure a green finance loan, and upgrade facilities to reduce energy costs.

Colliers said landlords of new developments can also make offices happier and healthier places for staff by thinking of the environmental and traffic impact when selecting an office location, analyzing the needs of the neighbourhood when planning the tenant mix, and matching office building design to workplace wellness. 

Meanwhile, landlords of existing buildings can achieve this social goal by using PropTech to create a wellness workplace and installing barrier-free access to create an equal, free and people-friendly environment.

Lastly, Colliers said landlords must also work to create a sustainable corporate system through better planning, execution, management, and risk control.

Landlords of new developments can do this by determining the asset marketing positioning and direction, performing climate risk assessment, and signing a green lease during pre-lease period.

Landlords of existing buildings, on the other hand, can introduce artificial intelligence of things (AIoT), develop and promote mobile apps to increase occupiers' ESG awareness and even corporate social responsibility (CSR), or sign a green lease as well.

"ESG will be high on every office landlord's agenda over the next few years due to the tightening regulation issues brought by carbon neutrality goals. Amidst the current office market, we recommend office landlords pursue sustainability given the rental premiums and higher occupancy of green buildings," Colliers said.

As per Colliers' report, Only 38% of total Grade A office stock is environmentally certified, as per Colliers.