Buildings account for just under half of all global emissions; as a property company Grosvenor have a particular obligation to do what we can to mitigate this impact.
OVERVIEW
We have a long history of stewardship of the built environment, having managed our London estate for over 300 years. Historically, we have demonstrated our commitment to environmental responsibility through a variety of initiatives in respect of both the way we manage our own business and our impact through our property development, investment and fund management portfolio. Since the appointment of a Group Director of Environment & Design on 1 January 2008, we have analysed the totality of our experience in this area and have begun planning from a Group-wide perspective.
In 2008 the Group agreed a vision statement, a five-year strategy for reducing our environmental impact and a governance structure establishing accountability for our performance in this area.
In 2009 the Group moved significantly nearer to measuring that performance systematically — establishing a framework for progressive data collection and reporting — and to setting common targets across the Group.
We also agreed minimum environmental criteria for all new property developments in each region (referencing levels of accreditation under external rating systems). In addition, we reviewed our environment management systems, beginning a pilot scheme to establish what we would need to do to achieve the international ISO14001 certification standard Groupwide and the benefits of doing so.
IMPACT AREAS AND TARGETS
Our reporting framework identifies 18 environmental impact areas relevant to the Group and its businesses. Of these we agreed that ‘Energy & carbon’ was the most pressing area to tackle: measuring carbon emissions is the most internationally recognised method of quantifying environmental impact. We completed an exercise to measure our Group-wide carbon footprint comprehensively for the first time; and we agreed provisional Group targets for reducing such emissions, both direct and indirect, against a 2007 baseline.
During 2010 we will finalise those targets and will concentrate our efforts on the six impact areas most material to our business as a property company (see below). We will move on to the other metrics progressively over time.
KEY ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AREAS
ENERGY AND CARBON
Our aim: To minimise energy consumption in our assets and the buildings we manage, and help reduce climate change by understanding and reducing our carbon footprint.
WATER
Our aim: To minimise water consumption in our assets and buildings we manage, protect water sources and prevent pollution.
WASTE AND RECYCLING
Our aim: To minimise waste and maximise reuse and recycling in our assets and buildings we manage.
BUILDING RATING STANDARDS
Our aim: To use building rating standards to measure the environmental performance of our buildings during design, construction and operation against external benchmarks.
ECOLOGY
Our aim: To minimise our ecological impact by protecting and enhancing local habitats and species.
MATERIALS AND SUPPLIERS
Our aim: To consider environmental objectives when selecting suppliers and materials; and minimise the environmental impact of construction projects by increasing our use of sustainable materials.
PROGRESS ACROSS THE GROUP IN 2009
All parts of the Group have been working hard to achieve the carbon footprint reductions to which we aspire.
We have made progress with our direct emissions. For instance, we achieved a 9% reduction in energy consumption in our largest office, 70 Grosvenor Street in London, and we introduced ‘smart meters’ on our London estate to monitor 75% of energy consumption in the landlord areas within those buildings we own and manage (see credentials).
We have also made headway on tackling indirect emissions — which account for a far larger proportion of the impact of our activities on the environment.
An example, in relation to the fabric of the buildings owned, managed or developed by Grosvenor (‘upstream emissions’), is the design of our new office development at 400 George Street in Brisbane, which has achieved a 5 Star Green Star — Office Design v2 rating from the Green Building Council of Australia (see credentials).
Indirect emissions from tenant activity in those buildings (‘downstream emissions’) are harder for us to influence: an innovative example of how we encouraged a reduction in such environmental impacts is the bio-diesel processor we have introduced at Liverpool One (see credentials).
FUTURE REPORTING
Later this year we will announce our Group targets for carbon emissions reduction. In 2011 we will produce our first stand alone environment report. This will report on our carbon footprint performance in 2010 and our management of key environmental impact areas.