Reducing economic risk is the major driver for committing to corporate sustainability, followed by improvement of image and increased productivity, according to a new survey carried out by listed German property company IVG Immobilien.
Reducing economic risk is the major driver for committing to corporate sustainability, followed by improvement of image and increased productivity, according to a new survey carried out by listed German property company IVG Immobilien.
The research - which was carried out among 85 listed real estate companies in Europe - identifies sustainability as a key trend across the European property industry. Companies in Scandinavia are the most committed to sustainability while their counterparts in Poland and Southern Europe trail a long way behind.
Around 65% of respondents to the survey said they see a 'significant' demand for sustainability issues among tenants, with 53% noting they would seek so-called green leases in the next 24 months. Some 22% of companies have meanwhile installed an independent corporate sustainability department.
'That sustainability is becoming an increasingly economic factor in the real estate industry is clearly visible. But a gap often still exists between the claim and articulation of a more sustainable way of acting by companies and the measurable economic evidence in the real estate industry,' said Thomas Beyerle, Head of CS & Research at IVG Immobilien.
'In this way we are able to prove that this is a broad market movement, which is now clearly gaining in depth. The question of "if" is thus no longer asked,' Beyerle added.
