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Their real estate expertise makes them ideal candidates to help their organization meet short- and long-term sustainable goals

February 26, 2021

As a growing number of stakeholders—from investors to employees and consumers—place sustainability at the top of their minds, C-suites and boards are feeling the pressure to tackle sustainable initiatives. While it’s ultimately the C-suite's responsibility to ensure they achieve the goals they’ve publicly set for themselves, corporate real estate (CRE) leaders might be the key to helping them achieve their targets. 

C-suites should be engaging their CRE team early in the process of setting the organization’s sustainability strategy, working with them as a partner in the process. Where this isn’t happening today, CRE leaders can and should approach their leadership to discuss how they can be involved, using sustainability to elevate the CRE team’s role and earn more credibility in the eyes of upper management.

Here are four reasons partnering with your CRE team can help you make progress on meeting your sustainability goals.

C-suites should be engaging their CRE team early in the process of setting the organization’s sustainability strategy, working with them as a partner in the process. Where this isn’t happening today, CRE leaders can and should approach their leadership to discuss how they can be involved, using sustainability to elevate the CRE team’s role and earn more credibility in the eyes of upper management.

Here are four reasons partnering with your CRE team can help you make progress on meeting your sustainability goals.

1. Buildings are a top source of emission and energy consumption

For many organizations, real estate can be a large source of emissions and energy consumption. In fact, 40% of the world’s carbon emissions come from total direct and indirect CO2 emissions from buildings. And although they flattened between 2013 and 2016, energy-related CO2 emissions from buildings have risen in recent years: Direct and indirect emissions from electricity and commercial heat used in buildings rose to 10 GtCO2 (metric gigatons of carbon dioxide) in 2019, the highest levels ever recorded. That’s equivalent to 24.8 trillion miles’ worth of CO2 emissions from average passenger vehicles. 

There’s tremendous potential to reduce emissions. Some organizations that already recognize this have real-estate-specific sustainability targets as part of their overall sustainability strategy. However, the continued use of fossil-fuel-based assets and insufficient investment in sustainable buildings means that potential is often untapped. CRE leaders have expertise in tackling real estate initiatives that can help achieve those goals. They oversee many of the levers to reduce consumption of energy and improve its efficiency. For instance:

  • They manage facilities management and engineering teams who control building operations
  • They control capital expenditure (CAPEX) budgets, which average millions of dollars and can fund actions and projects to drive sustainability initiatives
  • They manage massive operational expenditure (OPEX) budgets, which also average millions of dollars, and decide what money gets spent with which suppliers
  • They’re very involved in location strategy decisions and deciding when and where to acquire or dispose of space
2. CRE will own a lot of action plan items

Leadership sets sustainability goals, but without an implementation plan, they are just words on paper. CRE leaders are positioned to translate high-level objectives into concrete, tactical steps. For example, if the C-suite calls for the organization to use 100% renewable energy, CRE will be the one to call and negotiate with the utility company, negotiate power purchase agreements, evaluate options for onsite renewable energy technology, or explore options to bring in third parties to own or manage existing energy assets. Or if the C-suite mandates a 20% reduction in energy consumption, the CRE leader will be the one requiring their facility managers to switch out regular lightbulbs with LEDs, invest in continuous commissioning technology, adjust settings on a building automation system, or prioritize capital projects that possess an energy efficiency component.

Any organization that is deeply committed to achieving goals must be clear on how to achieve them, how to measure progress along the way, and how to hold groups within the firm accountable for their contributions to overall efforts. The action plan is not only about acknowledging where you need to make major needle-moving investments or pivot your business strategy—it's also where you truly start to change behaviors to create a culture of sustainability.

3. They can help drive favorable outcomes across myriad domains

Organizations don’t have to choose between sustainability and business outcomes—they can have both. CRE leaders can do this across financial, environmental, social, governance and resiliency domains. Read this article to learn how CRE leaders can help.

4. CRE can help educate and empower employees to make meaningful change

It’s often said that small actions can lead to big change. This is certainly true for CRE leaders, who can make a real, tangible impact on the daily employee experience that turns corporate leadership’s sustainable ambitions into actions. 

CRE leaders are able to set policies that determine how daily tasks are done. This can include adjusting how an office’s recycling is managed, setting sustainable purchasing standards, or helping employees adopt more sustainable behaviors altogether—such as organizing a company shuttle service to encourage carpooling instead of driving.

The time to act is now

There’s never been a bigger opportunity—or responsibility—for organizations to commit to sustainability goals. Collaboration between the the C-suite and CRE team is key in ensuring your organization achieves your publicly stated sustainability goals.

Visit our website to learn how to translate ambitions into action on your organization’s journey to become a more sustainable, more resilient and more responsible enterprise.