The Covid pandemic has pushed ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) initiatives to the forefront for many stakeholders in the commercial real estate community. Historically, as scientists focused on climate change, we saw the development of sustainable frameworks, standards, data aggregators and ratings providers. Then, as studies started to provide strong evidence that the built environment could play a significant role with green initiatives and also make a profit, developers and investors have increasingly jumped on the bandwagon to create energy efficient buildings. In other words, the business case for the green movement was successfully made. Now there is a burgeoning industry devoted to measuring the progress that is being made and documenting that a building, company or portfolio is, or is not, making progress towards their goals related to water consumption, energy and greenhouse gas emissions and making an impact.
“Women and our younger workforce (under-30 somethings) are demanding a better quality of life, both at work and at home”
