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In a new study of 250 commercial landlords with office buildings in the UK, half report major setbacks in improving energy efficiency across their portfolios, casting doubt over the sector’s short-term ability to meet net zero ambitions.
The findings are the latest to be revealed from a new research partnership between infinitSpace, the creator of tech-enabled, white-label, flexible workspaces, and The Instant Group, a global marketplace for flexible workspace solutions.
Costs, regulations and knowledge gap
Landlords were questioned on the sustainability of their office buildings. On energy efficiency, approximately one-in-two landlords report either difficulty in keeping up with regulations (49 per cent), the cost being too high (49 per cent), or lacking the expertise to make effective improvements (53 per cent).
Although a knowledge gap was a consistent theme throughout the research, landlords demonstrated great self-awareness and readiness to meet this challenge, with 47 per cent agreeing that they require help to shape their environmental policies.
Additionally, the study revealed that many landlords are proactively seeking to address this, with 92 per cent having either already outsourced the implementation or development of sustainability policy to a third party (19 per cent) or planning to do so (73 per cent). Of those planning, 45 per cent say they will do this in 2023 while 28 per cent say they will do so in 2024 or beyond.
Wybo Wijnbergen, CEO of infinitSpace, said: “Undoubtedly, office landlords face huge challenges in moving toward a sustainable sector. Creating energy-efficient workplaces must be at the heart of any sustainability strategy, particularly over the short term, so it is deeply concerning to see that around half of landlords report challenges with cost, changing regulations, or lack of expertise in making this crucial step.
“Yet, landlords can hardly be blamed for these challenges. With technology, especially green tech, undergoing constant evolution and environmental benchmarks rising all the time, it is no surprise that landlords are struggling to get to grips with sustainability on their own. At the same time, their proactive response in seeking partners provides firm hope for the future of the UK office market.
“By partnering with a flexible workspace provider, landlords can leave the hassle of developing and implementing sustainability policies to the experts, and rest easy knowing that proposals will be presented within budget, all the while helping to boost revenues through the consistent demand for flexible workspaces.”
Sam Pickering, Executive Director of Sustainability at Incendium (part of The Instant Group) commented: “Navigating policy changes and implementing sustainability measures is a significant challenge for the entire commercial real estate sector. Operational energy efficiency of our offices is a key contributor to global carbon emissions and implementing sustainability measures is critical to ensuring we reach net zero targets. Education and collaboration will be a vital component of improving the energy efficiency of our office stock, much of which runs the risk of becoming obsolete in just a couple of years. Working with a third party specialist is a logical step for landlords to take, as they can effectively develop and implement policies. Bringing greater transparency into the sector, through increased data sharing, as well as greater clarity on regulations will also help landlords in their efforts to decarbonise.”
