Sustainability and efficiencies are on everyone’s minds at the moment, and increasingly it represents significant challenges and opportunities for the property industry. Owners, managers and occupiers are calling for greener properties
That more mindful of the wider environment and costs associated.S o how can engaging with occupiers have an impact on creating more sustainable places to live and work? And what are the benefits to the managing agents.
According to the Managing Agents Partnership, ‘Many property owners are acknowledging the contribution that sustainability can make on their investment objectives and result in closer engagement with occupiers’. But what does this look like in reality and how can it be easily implemented?
At what level is your property or portfolio currently operating? In order to measure the impact your sustainability initiatives are having, you need to have a benchmark to compare to. Why not try a simple self-assessment? If you go with the Supply Chain Sustainability School, you will also get a tailored action plan with some simple steps to follow.
The priority must be putting time and resources into ensuring that occupiers have all the information they need and the tools to be sustainable. Do you offer any sustainability workshops or tools to help your occupiers run their own initiatives? According to Managing Agents Partnership, ‘encouraging engagement and participation can contribute to improving the performance and satisfy occupier demand for the more sustainable management of properties they lease/own’. This will have the added benefit of increasing occupier satisfaction, through added-value services.
As well as the environmental impacts and sense of well-being created through these initiatives, increasing engagement with your occupiers will have the added bonus of increasing your occupier satisfaction levels, through the provision of value-added services. As well as sustainability resources and workshops, a concurring schedule of other wellness incentives and local offers & promotions can be added – further improving the quality of life of your occupiers.
Any building initiative requires management, but this doesn’t necessarily mean more resource will be required. There are plenty of services available that will take the stress out of occupier engagement and sustainability initiatives as part of a wider FM or PropTech offering. Or if outsourcing isn’t an option, why not empower your resident’s association or occupier representatives to take a lead in these initiatives?
Admittedly there are many factors that need to be considered when trying to build or manage a more sustainable property. However, if spending a small amount of resource to empower your occupiers to do their part also increases engagement and a sense of community – seems like a no brainer!
Locale Life includes a wide selection of sustainability workshops for your occupiers.
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