Working with occupiers
90% of our office occupiers and 50% of our retail occupiers independently surveyed stated that our sustainability initiatives added value to their business.
60% of our office occupiers and 46% of our retail occupiers said that environmental initiatives were now more important to their company than they were a year ago.
We will continue to work with our occupiers to help them to achieve their sustainability objectives. The most important sustainability initiatives they identified were those that generate cost savings, such as energy efficiency and recycling. Office occupiers also placed emphasis on reducing waste and promoting cycling to work, whilst retail occupiers prioritised reducing packaging.
This year, we piloted new environmental partnerships between occupiers and the building management teams in four buildings. These were 201 Bishopsgate and The Broadgate Tower in London EC2, 350 Euston Road in London NW1 and York House, our Head Office in London W1. As a result of this collaboration we developed a Carbon Reduction Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which aims to reduce resource use and generate cost savings.
British Land worked with other members of the Better Buildings Partnership (BBP) to develop a Green Lease Framework. Executive Officer at British Land, Peter Clarke, who is also Chairman of the BBP, said: “It became clear to us that ‘one-size-fits-all’ could not work and therefore the principles and guidelines are deliberately non-prescriptive. Owners and occupiers can agree carbon, energy, waste and water reduction strategies which best fit with the circumstances of individual properties. Introducing an MoU is a much faster route to reducing environmental impacts than waiting for an existing lease – many of which can be 15 years or longer – to come up for renewal.”
Next year, we are targeting 30% of all occupiers in multi-let office buildings to sign up to our Carbon Reduction Memorandum of Understanding or an equivalent document. We will also work with retail occupiers to raise awareness of energy saving initiatives.
