Ancora poco interessati al “green” i tenants tedeschi

(Potential in Germany not generally recognised compared with UK and France / Green leases remain rare in Germany)
Users continue to be overlooked as part of the sustainability equation. The potential economic advantages of owners and property users working together on green issues is still given far too little consideration in the sustainability strategies of European real estate investors. While new ways of involving users more closely are being piloted in the UK and France, Germany is currently lagging behind in this regard. That is the conclusion reached by Union Investment’s property experts in their latest sustainability study, which involved a representative survey of 165 decision-makers at property companies in Germany, France and the UK.
While around 40 per cent of UK investors and 70 per cent of French investors plan to introduce green leases as part of their sustainability strategy this year, only 15 per cent in Germany considered this to be important. “Contractual agreements between landlords and tenants covering compliance with defined green standards during building operation and usage are still in their infancy in Germany,” said Dr. Reinhard Kutscher, Chairman of the Management Board at Union Investment Real Estate GmbH, Hamburg. He added that a breakthrough would only come when a broad awareness of the economic contribution that sustainable and resource-saving management can deliver for all parties has emerged. The publication of recommendations for “Green leases in Germany” in June 2012 saw the German property sector taking an important first step.
Another finding of the survey is that the UK continues to lead the way in terms of sustainability, with France also currently making great strides in this area. In Germany, only some 60 per cent of the investors polled believe that user behaviour has a significant impact on the environmental performance of a building. In the UK and France, the percentage of investors for whom user behaviour is an important factor is significantly higher, at 78 and 85 per cent respectively.
Correspondingly, around 35 per cent of UK investors and almost 70 per cent of French investors stated that they will be paying particular attention to sustainability when selecting building service providers over the next 12 months. Sustainability played a relatively minor role in building management for German investors. Just 25 per cent of the real estate professionals surveyed in Germany intend to use sustainability criteria as the basis for choosing service providers in the next 12 months.
Meanwhile, the trend among European investors towards viewing individual properties in the context of a wider sustainability strategy continues. Some 38 per cent of the property investors questioned aggregate key building data on final energy consumption, lifecycle costs and waste volumes at portfolio level. In the last survey, the equivalent figure was 34 per cent. Likewise, for 38 per cent of investors (previously 34 per cent) sustainability forms part of an overarching corporate social responsibility strategy. UK investors take the lead here, with approximately 56 per cent confirming this approach.
At the same time, the positive trend towards publishing sustainability reports also continues. An impressive 47 per cent of the investment companies surveyed stated that they prepare reports on their sustainability activities. Compared to the previous survey, this figure has risen by 11 percentage points, representing an important and much-needed move towards greater transparency. The relevance of this trend is underscored by the fact that only 25 per cent of investors (virtually the same proportion as in the last survey) believe that there are clear evaluation criteria for sustainable buildings in their respective countries.
Source: Company