I read with interest “It’s not easy being green” (13 April). The article rightly points out that as obsolescence becomes an increasingly pertinent issue for some 18% of existing office stock, a means of measuring and delivering sustainable refurbishment is critical.
This is why RICS and its development partners pre-emptively introduced its Ska Rating for Offices back in 2009, and launched Ska for Retail and Restaurants in February 2012.
The tool rates the environmental impact of the fit-out regardless of the base building, assessing areas such as energy consumption, CO2 emissions, waste, water and material use to award a gold, silver or bronze rating.
The tool can be applied to projects of any size, in both existing and new buildings, for one-off projects or volume roll-outs, and is compatible with EPC targets and corporate reporting.
As testament to its relevance and importance, the Better Buildings Partnership recently included Ska in its transactional agent toolkit as providing a common standard between landlords and tenants, emphasising that tenants have their own role to play in improving a building’s environmental outcomes.
There are 100-plus projects now carrying a Ska Rating – with occupiers including npower, Westpac, Lush and Nationwide using the system and reporting 30% energy savings, up to 99% of waste diverted from landfill, capital allowance tax relief and CRC savings.
According to last week’s article, BRE is looking to introduce an accreditation scheme for commercial property refurbishment to support those landlords whose buildings have an EPC rating of E or below.
But with the 2018 obsolescence deadline increasingly coming too close for comfort, the time for action is now – and the decision-making tool, in the form of the Ska rating, is already out there.
Tim Robinson, director of information products, RICS
