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I was encouraged to see some sustainable coverage in the finance section of Property Week last week. It occupied a full page at the real business end of the magazine, and for me that's quite a statement. It's hopefully part of the evolution in the demand and client side of the industry from an interest in the environment to really embracing the principles and doing it. The article (subscriber only I'm afriad) sets out the steps being taken in particular by fund manager Hermes.
Interviewing chief executive Rupert Clarke the piece reveals that Hermes owner and client, BT Pensions Scheme, has committed £500m to own buildings rated either BREEAM excellent or super-green (not sure whther that's an official rating just yet or not). "Over the next two years we want to trade out of older buildings and buy green," says Clarke. And he offers an interesting insight into the influence of the recent downturn in the property market on sustainability. "It (the drive to go green) will not happen overnight. We can't justify spending money. Also seling older properties and replacing with new is not on at the moment."
Clarke tackles issues such as the problem of persudaing occupiers to go green and the challenge of working sustainability into investment strategies given the scarcity of data and measurements on existing stock and how it is performing energy-wise. The firm has developed a sustainability rating system with consultant Upstream, the article says.
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