European Property Sustainability Matters European Property ...

Sustainability assessment tools
There is a growing concern and awareness that
investors and occupiers need a way to “futureproof”
their buildings against the adverse impact of
ignoring sustainability issues.
The range of relevant property issues which could be
considered as pertinent to sustainable development
is vast. The major issues can summarised, as in
this diagram, which relates to Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) discussed later:
Sustainability
Sustained occupier
market demand.
Investment
perfomance.
Economic
Sustainability
Source: Various
Viable
Environmental
Sustainability
SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
Equity
Climate change.
Air, water and
ground
pollution.
Live-able
Social
Sustainability
Culture.
Respect for people.
Sense of place.
Working and living
environment.
The Building Sustainability Assessment Toolkit
“Building Sustainability in the Balance” by Sarah
Sayce, Anthony Walker and Angus McIntosh,
published by Estates Gazette in 2004, recognised
the frequent conflicts of interest when considering
the concept of sustainability. It set out to identify
the range of different stakeholders and to provide a
means to reconcile their priorities.
The problem arises because, while there is much
encouragement of sustainability, definitions tend to
be all general but the range of interests is necessarily
diverse, involving economics and social factors as
well as those related to the environment.
It was also recognised that interests differ according
to the involvement of different stakeholders.
For example, the building owner, the occupier
and the local community may all have very
different perspectives on what makes a building
sustainable.
The first will be probably more interested in the
economic aspects, the second in the environment,
especially as it affects the productivity of their
workforce, while the community may focus on social
issues such as present and future employment
opportunities.
Each stakeholder’s involvement will thus substantially
affect its views, and a simple example is energy
conservation. For the building investment owner
this will usually be of little immediate interest, since
running costs will be met by the occupier and any
improvement is likely to necessitate increased
capital cost.
For the occupier the running costs are only a small
part of his total business cost. A good environment,
cool enough in summer and warm in winter, will be
of greater interest than fuel expenditure.
For the community energy conservation is of
considerable interest, including CO 2 emissions and
the long-term impact on the environment.
Environmental issues have recently hit the headlines
and been the focus of much government attention
and legislation. They are easier to measure and
define than social issues. The cultural value of a
building is difficult to quantify but is significant in
considering its sustainability: does it contribute to
the community’s pride of place and add value to the
environment?
The BSAT (Building Sustainability Assessment
Tool) was developed to provide a means of
comparing the two main groups of stakeholders’
interests: those of the building owners and occupiers
(internal stakeholders) and those of the local and
global communities (external stakeholders).
Obviously both these categories are very broad and
similar exercises could be undertaken comparing
the interests of the building owner with the building
occupier, or of the local community with the global
community. The tool was developed to examine
an individual building or development, but the
principles could apply to a city quarter or a wider
area.
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