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Cutting carbon emissions and meeting net-zero targets must be central to all policies moving forwards for commercial landlords, says the managing director of a property group.
Steve McGregor, group managing director at property services specialist, DMA Group believes that rethinking how businesses occupy commercial real estate is a chance for landlords to do their bit for the environment.
McGregor said: “During these challenging times, many organisations are likely considering reducing their commercial real estate, whether that’s office, industrial or retail space. However, reducing footprints can be complex and expensive. Early exit from a commercial lease agreement requires expert legal advice and the invaluable practical skills necessary to minimise expensive internal and external modifications such as stripping out ceilings, demolishing partitions, or redecoration and alterations.
“But, in addition to the rental and occupancy savings, it also provides a genuine opportunity for property owners, occupiers and managers to make a significant contribution to the UK’s net-zero targets.
“Whilst many organisations are operating in modern buildings, others are tasked with improving the energy performance of older, perhaps listed commercial real estate; the biggest contribution towards decarbonisation will come from improving existing buildings, which will represent 80 per cent of the national estate use come 2050.
“Cutting carbon emissions and meeting net-zero targets must be central to all policies moving forwards, with smart technology and digitalisation playing a central role. Off-the-shelf computerised systems have worked well in the past to support building maintenance. However, agile forward-thinking organisations are turning to cloud-based platforms which provide real-time transparency, data analysis, and proactively manage and predict energy use whilst identifying savings opportunities.”
By using technology to monitor emissions and other factors, McGregor believes that landlords “will better understand what's happening in their buildings when it comes to service delivery and energy consumption, and this can’t be scoffed at in terms of helping us collectively achieve net-zero targets”.