MAYOR APPLAUDS LONDON’S GREEN LANDLORDS
12/06/2009
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, last night congratulated some of the capital’s greenest commercial property owners at the first annual Green500 & Better Buildings Partnership (BBP) Awards held at Chelsea Football Club. This year’s sustainability pioneers across the property industry include British Land, Canary Wharf Group, Land Securities, Transport for London and Workspace Group amongst others.
Prospect House, a Hermes Real Estate property, won the Building Operational Improvement award for reducing its carbon emissions by 15%, water use by 18% and completely overhauling its waste management system, ensuring nothing is sent directly to landfill. A robust Responsible Property Management (RPM) programme has been in effect at Prospect House since 2006 in partnership with property managers Jones Lang La Salle. A joint carbon commitment programme with occupiers NBC Universal, part of the GE Group and member of the Green500, further exemplifies how the property industry can work together to improve the capital’s buildings dramatically.
British Land was awarded the Owner Occupier Award for its work at 201 Bishopsgate and Broadgate Tower. There are significant difficulties in landlords and tenants partnering to improve the sustainability of existing commercial properties. British Land have overcome these difficulties through effective engagement and have developed a strong partnership with their occupiers, Henderson Global Investors, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, Mayer Brown International, Reed Smith and managing agents Broadgate Estates. A building management committee and a carbon efficiency programme has been established as part of the partnership – this has resulted in 97% of fit-out waste being re-used or recycled, while measures also taken to increase energy efficiency and save carbon emissions.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: 'I salute London's top commercial property owners for truly grasping the nettle to become greener. Their sterling work to cut carbon and become energy efficient puts London on the front foot to emerge from the economic downturn stronger and stimulate new jobs.'
LDA Group Director for Design, Development and Environment Peter Bishop said:
“We need to act to mitigate the impact of climate change – which means getting real carbon savings. The Better Buildings Partnership is getting tangible results and the award winners are already showing that they can cut carbon dioxide emissions.”
Peter Clarke, Chairman of the BBP, said: “These awards recognise and applaud the companies that are making great efforts to help reduce the capital’s emissions through their membership of the BBP. I hope that many more businesses will be encouraged to sign up and benefit from the knowledge and expertise the BBP has developed in providing solutions to green London’s existing building stock. “