Green Building Certification

The challenge

Most of a property portfolio’s emissions sit in buildings that already exist. Certification programs tend to reward new construction, which is where the least of the problem lives.

What we did

We surveyed the entire portfolio, ranked assets by emissions per square metre rather than by age, and retrofitted in that order — fabric and controls first, plant replacement only where it was genuinely due.

The outcome

Certification achieved across the majority of the portfolio, with energy intensity down sharply and the works funded largely from the operating savings they produced.