Mayor applauds success of London’s green landlords

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has congratulated some of the capital’s greenest commercial property owners at the first annual Green500 & BBP Awards held at Chelsea Football Club. This year’s sustainability pioneers across the property industry include British Land, Canary Wharf Group, Land Securities, Transport for London and Workspace Group amongst others.

Prospect House, a Hermes Real Estate property, won the Building Operational Improvement award for reducing its carbon emissions by 15 percent, water use by 18 percent and completely overhauling its waste management system, ensuring nothing is sent directly to landfill. A robust Responsible Property Management (RPM) programme has been in effect at Prospect House since 2006 in partnership with property managers Jones Lang La Salle. A joint carbon commitment programme with occupiers NBC Universal, part of the GE Group and member of the Green500, further exemplifies how the property industry can work together to improve the capital’s buildings dramatically.

British Land was awarded the Owner Occupier Award for its work at 201 Bishopsgate and Broadgate Tower, for developing common goals with occupiers including Henderson Global Investors, Mayer Brown, Reed Smith, LBBW and Alpari. There are significant difficulties in landlords and tenants partnering to improve the sustainability of existing commercial properties but all businesses involved have overcome these difficulties through effective engagement and a strong partnership with managing agents, Broadgate Estates. A building management committee and a carbon efficiency programme has been established as part of the partnership – this has resulted in 97 percent of fit-out waste being re-used or recycled, while measures also taken to increase energy efficiency and save carbon emissions.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “I salute London’s top commercial property owners for truly grasping the nettle to become greener. Their sterling work to cut carbon and become energy efficient puts London on the front foot to emerge from the economic downturn stronger and stimulate new jobs.”

London Development Agency (LDA) Group Director for Design, Development and Environment Peter Bishop said: “We need to act to mitigate the impact of climate change – which means getting real carbon savings. The Better Buildings Partnership is getting tangible results and the award winners are already showing that they can cut carbon dioxide emissions.”

Peter Clarke, Chairman of the BBP, said: “These awards recognise and applaud the companies that are making great efforts to help reduce the capital’s emissions through their membership of the BBP. I hope that many more businesses will be encouraged to sign up and benefit from the knowledge and expertise the BBP has developed in providing solutions to green London’s existing building stock.”

The Better Buildings Partnership was set up in 2008 by the Mayor and the London Development Agency to overcome barriers for improving London’s existing commercial building stock. Some of London’s largest commercial landlords have come together under the Partnership to create solutions for the industry to overcome these barriers. These include tools and guidance on green leases, financing sustainable retrofit and sustainable benchmarking.

2009 Better Buildings Partnership Awards:
Case studies: Transport for London has demonstrated innovative ways to carry out sustainable retrofit in existing buildings, which not only reduce carbon significantly but pay for themselves through energy savings. The improvements that TfL made to the Palestra building after they acquired the head lease have earned them a special mention in the Building Operational Improvement category of the BBP awards.

TfL acquired the head lease for the Palestra building in August 2006 as part of an accommodation strategy to move over 2,000 staff from other short lease occupancies to a single building in central London. A meticulous retrofitting of the Palestra building increased its BREEAM (a global environmental assessment certification for buildings) from ‘very good’ to ‘excellent’ in compliance with the TfL and Mayoral sustainability criteria for reducing CO2 emissions and running costs.

Over 72 different points were addressed by TfL to turn the Palestra building into a truly inspiring example of sustainable building retrofit. From new recycling measures ensuring less than eight percent of waste sent to landfill, to using recycled tube windows as kitchen countertops, the iconic office space functions efficiently with minimal environmental impact. Other measures include an integrated on-site roof-mounted renewable energy source with wind turbines, the UK’s largest building fuel cell as well as a large absorption chiller.

Transport for London is leading the way in addressing climate change and driving change within its property portfolio, exemplified by its work at the Palestra building. The independent judging panel stated that “TfL is setting a standard that the private sector needs to catch up with”.

British Land has proven that a close relationship between the owner and occupier of a building can have positive effects on energy and carbon reduction. The BBP has awarded British Land with a Gold Portfolio award for their properties that includes the pioneering buildings of 201 Bishopsgate and Broadgate Tower as well as 350 Euston Road which also received a Green500 Platinum Award.

British Land worked closely with occupiers in 201 Bishopsgate and Broadgate Towers during the fit-out of the two properties, achieving 97 percent re-use or recycle levels for all waste and effectively diverting 1,693 tonnes away from landfill. Through a carbon partnership between landlord and tenants, both buildings have managed to improve their carbon savings through energy efficient design features such as ventilation systems that gather and re-use waste heat, motion-activated lighting systems, high-performance glass that regulates heat gain while retaining cool air, as well as double-decker lifts in the Broadgate Tower, which transport twice as many people using a single motor. With a 24 percent cut in carbon emissions at 201 Bishopsgate and a 19 percent reduction at the Broadgate Tower, British Land has signed up 30 percent of occupiers in multi-let office buildings to their Carbon Reduction Memorandum of Understanding in line with the BBP Green Lease Toolkit.

At 350 Euston Road, the setting up of a cross company and landlord carbon reduction action group has resulted in 200 tonnes of CO2 reductions through energy efficiency schemes and effective management of heating and ventilation. Staff engagement schemes such as a robust cycle to work scheme and environmental road shows have gained support and behavioral change by employees.

Winners of the 2009 Better Building Partnership Awards:

Building Operational Improvement Award:
Hermes Real Estate – Prospect House
Mention for TfL

Green Portfolio Award:
Grosvenor Land Securities

Gold Portfolio Award:
British Land
Canary Wharf Group
Transport for London
Workspace Group
BBP Member & Non-Green 500 Member Partnership
British Land – Bishops gate 201 and Broadgate Tower

For more information:
Contact Emmanuel Xirogiannis, Senior Consultant, Futerra Sustainability Communications
T: +44 (0) 207 549 4695
Email: emmanuel@futerra.co.uk or Christopher Botten, Climate Change Officer, London Development Agency T: +44 (0)20 7593 8078, Email: christopher.botten@lda.gov.uk,
Visit: betterbuildingspartnership.co.uk.