The commercial real estate industry has improved the “in use” energy efficiency of its buildings by almost one third over the last decade, according to latest figures from the Better Building Partnership’s Real Estate Environmental Benchmark.
REEB, which captures the operational performance of more than 1,000 properties owned by some of the largest commercial property owners in the UK, benchmarks energy and water use of buildings in an attempt to provide an example of best practice for the industry.
The 2020 REEB report shows a continuing improvement in energy efficiency by the industry, with a 27% improvement over the past 10 years and a 4% improvement between 2018/19 and 2019/20.
BBP chief executive Sarah Ratcliffe said: “These latest results from REEB show a sustained improvement in energy performance over the past 10 years from BBP members – this is significant and important progress from leaders in the industry. However, it is clear that for commercial properties to demonstrate that they are on the pathway to net zero it will require a step change in efforts to improve energy efficiency. The REEB dataset provides a vital insight into the scale of the challenge.”
Quinten Babcock, environmental manager at Transport for London and chair of the BBP Benchmarking Working Group, added: “Now more than ever, we need to track our energy efficiency progress against our peers and our own net zero carbon targets. The annual REEB process allows us to gauge that progress and continue to work together to take on the NZC challenges that the whole industry faces.”
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