17 November 2015 | James Richards
British Land is celebrating winning 'highly commended' in the Impact on Sustainability category at the BIFM Awards this year.
British Land is one of the largest property development and investment companies in the UK. As of March 2014, the company was managing £17.8 billion of property assets, of which British Land owns £12 billion.
Broadgate Estates is a property management company wholly owned by British Land, and together the two organisations delivered outstanding results against two key sustainability targets.
The first goal was to achieve 40 per cent energy reductions from 2009 to 2015. The two organisations have exceeded this by cutting energy use across properties by 41 per cent. This has saved office occupiers £6.6 million and reduced carbon emissions by 39,200 tonnes - which is as much as the annual emissions from 6,000 homes.
Automatic metering and energy monitoring has been rolled out across the portfolio in partnership with occupiers so FM teams can identify ongoing reduction opportunities.
The second target was to implement British Land's Community Charter at all major assets by 2015. This has been applied to all of British Land's major office properties, building local relationships and meeting local needs in such areas as education, employment and training.
By working closely with local partners and leveraging the local supply chain, the community programme has brought real benefits to 12,500 Londoners over the last year. Among the beneficiaries have been unemployed local residents, apprentices, school children and young carers.
Success in the above areas led British Land to launch the Supply Chain Charter in 2014 and a new sustainability strategy for 2015, with tough new targets to drive positive environmental and social outcomes.