International Sustainability Alliance
The International Sustainability Alliance (ISA) is a new initiative from BRE Global, bringing together a global network of real estate leaders - developers, owners, occupiers and investors – who understand the business imperatives in taking a lead in creating a more sustainable built environment.
BRE Global is part of the BRE Trust, a not-for-profit charitable institution.
Over 40% of carbon emissions come from the built environment. Only 1-2% of buildings are renewed each year, so by far the major challenge – and the biggest opportunity - is to manage and develop existing stock.
ISA will help members create a more sustainable built environment and improve return on investment by assisting BRE Global in creating the world’s largest and most comprehensive property environmental database. This will enable members to create sustainable strategies for their real estate and make the link with financial performance.
What will ISA provide ?
A comprehensive property environmental database
ISA is gathering data on members’ portfolios to help create the world’s largest sustainability database. This will enable an organisation to assess its impact on the environment at individual building and portfolio level, thereby identifying which properties are performing at optimal level and which are sub-optimal, so that appropriate strategies can be created. The database includes Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and consistent metrics that cross national boundaries.
Accurate, verifiable CSR reporting
ISA will support members enabling them to produce accurate and verifiable Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting. This is a key issue for organisations who are putting environmental and/or carbon targets into both general annual reports and dedicated sustainability reports. ISA helps members monitor progress on a regular basis to show improvements.
Tracking emerging green legislation and lobbying for sound environmental law
ISA will help members prepare for emerging green legislation and lobby for sound regulation, based on factual, evidence-based science that will really improve the environment. ISA’s priorities are focussed on the areas members believe are important and targeted at key areas (eg influencing positively on the issue of environmental labelling).
A route to low cost, third party certification - open to all standards
ISA will provide a route to straightforward low cost, third party certification using standards relevant to the host country (eg BREEAM, LEED, HQE). It will do this through five easy steps.
An opportunity for investors, landlords, owners & occupiers to work together towards a single building solution based on co-operation
Through its database ISA brings all parties together, whether this is for a single office building or a shopping centre. This allows everyone involved to work towards a sustainable solution. ISA works across all sectors (retail, office, industrial developments, infrastructure etc).
Providing the link between environmental and financial performance
ISA’s activities are geared towards helping members create accurate real estate strategies, supporting business strategies whilst demonstrating the added value of a corporate sustainability strategy. ISA will make links to other financial property indices so that end-to-end performance of a building or a portfolio can be seen.
Research into environmental and sustainable solutions to inform lobbying and demonstrate value
Using ISA’s comprehensive property environment database and providing research which is sound, evidence-based and independent, based on priorities identified members. The link to certification will be a particular advantage as eco-labelling of buildings is driven by legislation.
Who is it for ?
ISA already has a significant membership drawn from some of Europe’s largest corporate bodies, developers, real estate owners and investors. These include :
Occupiers
Providing data that can be shared with landlords and owners and can feed into CSR reporting, creating verifiable sustainable property strategies
Investors
Benchmarking the environmental performance of real estate portfoliosMeasuring the impact of investments – on sustainability and the bottom line
Asset Managers
Providing tools to collect data from tenants and to aid decision making to help direct refurbishment and building strategies
Demonstrating the environmental impact of changes in policy and practice
Real Estate Owners
Providing vital data to guide investment decisionsBenchmarking and improving performance across a real estate portfolio
Managing Agents
Providing tools which can be included in service charge agreements and green leasesDelivering data which can be shared with tenants for continuous improvement
Developers
Steering refurbishment strategies and demonstrating that environmental improvements can attract occupiers and enhance a building’s attractivenessInfluencing leading edge research
"Joining the International Sustainability Alliance is a way to work towards the successful development of a meaningful index of sustainable property performance, which will help the market to adequately value the buildings that are truly eco-efficient and sustainable." Álvaro Portela, CEO, Sonae Sierra
"The creation of the Alliance is a major step forward for the corporate community. For the first time it will enable occupiers to measure and benchmark the sustainable performance of their buildings, provide a rationale for CSR reporting and present the opportunity to create property strategies in support of a company's green credentials." John Pike, Co-Chair, ISA
"We need to bring together the key stakeholders of the real estate sector; from developers and investors to occupiers and facilities managers. I see the Alliance to be an important way to help clarify each stakeholder's role in building a more sustainable society." Jaap Gillis, Redevco and Co-Chair, ISA
"As well as helping our customers enhance their energy performance, we have an ambitious programme for our own buildings. The International Sustainability Alliance will promote our engagement in helping to create a more sustainable world and demonstrate that we are committed to applying to ourselves what we are recommending to others. The ISA will give us a unified reporting mechanism for the benchmarking of our own buildings and provide a fantastic opportunity to network with other large organizations who have similar priorities". Nathalie Charles, Real Estate Manager, EDF Group
More information will appear here and on a dedicated Alliance website to be launched soon. To contact us email info@internationalsustainabilityalliance.org