Strategy Governance & Disclosure

Algonquin College – Where Education and Sustainability Combine for a Greener Future

When Algonquin College made a commitment to become a more sustainable institution for future generations, it turned to Siemens to help achieve its goals. For more than 25 years, Siemens and Algonquin College have partnered to work towards an ambitious goal of ensuring the college reaches a zero net carbon footprint by 2042. A perfect […]

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Carbon Shift: Why Energy is Fading as a Key Performance Indicator

One of the benefits of early participation in the GRESB Real Estate Assessment was that it helped real estate portfolios improve their environmental, social and governance (ESG) -related policies and management systems.

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Scaling Building Resilience in the Face of Climate Change

In 2017 the U.S. experienced devastating storms, fires, and hurricanes that caused over $358 Billion in damages. And for countries and communities around the world, they continue to be impacted by climate change as weather patterns become unpredictable.

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TRIANGO

With this Triango project, Bopro Sustainable Investments (BSI) has obtained the right to develop 15 ha of the Triangle de Gonesse. From now on we belong – as a Belgian company – to the development team of the ‘Inventons la Métropole du Grand Paris’ project. ‘Inventons la Métropole du Grand Paris’, the biggest European contest […]

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Sustainable cities and the role of regional green building programs

In many cities, buildings are responsible for a majority of the city’s overall carbon emissions. For this reason, low-carbon buildings will be an essential component for the development of sustainable cities. Effectively reducing building emissions will require a combination of advancements in low-carbon energy systems technology and initiatives to reduce building-related energy use in both […]

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Full steam ahead to a Smart and Sustainable City

What makes a city smart and sustainable? Denkstatt recently tried to answer this question – both in theory by developing a new position paper on smart cities together with stakeholders from the real estate and urban development sectors and in practice by integrating sustainability in a district development project in the Austrian city Amstetten. A […]

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Analysis of physical risks related to climate change for Gecina’s real estate office portfolio

Why adaptation to climate change matters to lower the value at risk Buildings, designed to be managed over several decades, are particularly exposed to evolving climate hazards, particularly extreme hazards: heat waves, floods, intense rainfall, storms. Impacts on Gecina’s activity can be physical (damage to the structure or the technical equipment) or functional (deterioration of […]

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Sustainability as a corporate goal

Energy optimization is being carried out at Sihlcity Zurich, a building complex that belongs to Credit Suisse Asset Management Global Real Estate. In 2012, the Credit Suisse Asset Management Global Real Estate, working with Siemens Switzerland and Wincasa, embarked on a five-year program with the goal of reducing energy consumption at some 1,000 Swiss properties […]

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Case Study: Sello – a perfect place to come together

This building – it’s a place to learn. It’s a place to compete. A place to practise, to improve. To invent. But above all, this building is a community. -Marianne Harjula, Sello Event Manager

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Innovation to drive down risk

Technological advances have been gathering pace at an astonishing rate, forcing industries worldwide to adapt – the real estate sector is no different.  PropTech has one common goal: to innovate, using technology to simplify the real estate market.

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GRESB Highlights 2018

As the Verdani team is busy preparing for the upcoming GRESB reporting season, we thought it would be useful to put together a high-level overview of GRESB’s most recent updates. Whether you are actively working with GRESB, are busy with your own sustainability programs, or like to stay well- informed in the industry, we’ve summarized […]

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How to develop leadership in ESG management and reporting within the Commercial Real Estate sector

Bloomberg recently reported that in 2017, across all industries, twice as many funds with an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investment strategy were created compared to 2014. The flow of capital to environmentally and socially conscious companies is ramping up. On top of that we are also seeing investors divest support for companies that are […]

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How to develop leadership in ESG management and reporting

4 W’s of ESG management & reporting leadership: “Why”, “What”, “Who”, “When”. Why: Set Goals, Define Success The very first question you need to ask yourself as you consider an ESG strategy is “Why”. The answers you discover for this question will sculpt the path your strategy will take. “Why” will define what success in […]

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Case Study: Launch of the Speak up Campaign

This article is part of a series of selected ESG case studies submitted by participants in the 2017 GRESB Infrastructure Assessment. Purpose of the project Recognising that there was a need to increase the number of interactions from staff on matters affecting them and as a result of there being no reports through the whistle-blowing […]

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How To Be A GRESB Reporting Rockstar

GRESB is a huge sustainability report to tackle, and often real estate companies file with a number of unintentional inaccuracies. Get it right by ensuring these five areas are accurate and true to your individual processes. (Repost from Measurabl blog April 19, 2017). 

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9 Strategies for improved GRESB disclosure

Whether you’re new to the ESG disclosure market or a seasoned veteran, you’re probably aware of a paradigm shift in the real estate industry. Recent years have shown an increased demand for sustainability-focused construction and operations, as well as greater transparency into the efforts put forth by organizations in regards to ESG-centric business practices. There […]

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Six Tips to a More Organized GRESB Reporting Season

Verdani Partners has managed the GRESB submissions for 12+ funds including both debt and equity since 2013 with many of our clients ranking in the top 3 and top 5 in their respective peer groups. We developed a method to make reporting season as painless and efficient as possible to minimize the impact on our […]

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Case study: CoastAdapt Climate Change Adaptation at North Queensland Airport

This article is part of a series of selected ESG case studies submitted by participants in the 2017 GRESB Infrastructure Assessment. Purpose of the project The goals of the North Queensland Airport (NQA) case study were to build a better internal capacity and understanding of future risks to both airport assets and airport operations including […]

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Case Study: Winning formula: Collaborative Asset Performance Programme at 2 Cavendish Square

This article is part of a series of selected ESG case studies submitted by participants in the 2017 GRESB Real Estate Assessment. “The next step in active property management: digging into the BMS and engaging with occupiers and technical teams to fine tune property management” Purpose of the project 2 Cavendish Square compared poorly to […]

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Case Study: RLAM Energy Efficiency Programme (EEP)

This article is part of a series of selected ESG case studies submitted by participants in the 2017 GRESB Real Estate Assessment. We have formed a successful partnership with Capita identifying innovative ways of reducing consumption, we now need to continue this good work with further improvements. Kevin Bould, RLAM, June

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