The need to keep pace with competitors is motivating office landlords to make sustainability improvements, research from infinitSpace shows.
A third (30%) of office landlords have a sustainability strategy in place, while the most popular reason for landlords to improve sustainability is to keep pace with their competition, with 41% of citing this as a motivating factor.
Surprisingly just one in five (19%) make sustainability improvements to lower overheads, such as energy bills.
Wybo Wijnbergen, chief executive of infinitSpace, said: “Office landlords are clearly finding “green” inspiration from a variety of places.
“However, it’s notable that the two greatest motivators are market competition and an ethical desire to play a role in reducing climate change, demonstrating the importance of sustainability as both a strategy for commercial success and a moral imperative.
“Many landlords will also note the connection between sustainability and occupancy. Increasingly, environmentally conscious businesses are led in their decisions by a commitment toward sustainability, including where they work.
“So, landlords must ensure they have a compelling sustainability strategy – with competition in the market so high, potential tenants will smell greenwashing from genuine action.
“Fortunately, landlords don’t have to face sustainability challenges on their own; workspace operators can help guide net-zero transformation in a way that is commercially viable both over the short and long term.”
A personal or organisational desire to play an active role in reducing climate change was the second most common factor (37%).
Occupancy provided a backdrop to many of the factors, with a third (33%) citing the retention of existing tenants and 28% the ability to market to new tenants.
Elsewhere, 33% of landlords listed the need to comply with regulatory demands, such as new energy performance certificate (EPC) rules, as a factor motivating them to invest in sustainability.
