3 Takeaways From REALpac's Green Panel
1. Bentall Kennedy Employees Dig Sustainability
REALpac, Oxford Properties and GRESB hosted the Canadian launch of the 2014 GRESB survey results last week. A panel discussion followed on the growing importance of sustainability. Bentall Kennedy Group CEO Gary Whitelaw (with OTPP's Joy Williams)—whose firm was ranked first globally in the diversified category of the 2014 GRESB survey—said a strong sustainability culture is key to keeping BK's employees engaged and to attracting talent. Leadership on this comes from the top, but for the effort to be truly successful there has to be buy-in at all levels, Gary said, from tenants to leasing agents. "It’s not something you can dictate—it’s a groundswell.”
2. TD Prefers Energy Star As Its Benchmark
Roger Johnson (above right), who runs TD Bank Group’s enterprise real estate arm, explained why his company chose Energy Star as its benchmark for measuring the sustainability of its 28M SF global office and retail portfolio. “It’s not perfect,” Roger told the panel, but with “limited resources” to devote to sustainability initiatives, Energy Star offers the most effective way for TD to assess where it stands across its global portfolio and “compare ourselves to our peers.” It’s also important for a major corporate tenant like TD to have landlords that “holistically” believe in sustainability, he added. Otherwise “you’re probably going to get short-changed."
3. We Should Be More Like The Aussies
Australia's government requires mandatory disclosure of the energy consumption for buildings over 2,000 SM, noted Presima and Nab Asset Management portfolio manager Vincent Felteau (pictured here with Joy). Vincent pointed to a GRESB study that showed buildings Down Under that aren’t certified for sustainability are moving in the "negative direction" in terms of value. It shows government-imposed measures are accelerating the uptake in sustainability, he added. Roger Johnson said he “fears (added) government rules and regulations. He suggested a better solution for ensuring transparency for tenants like TD is green building labelling, which is being done in the US.
