future-proof real estate with the smart building collective

wellbeing & sustainability in real estate & hospitality podcast

Welcome to episode 063 of the Green & Healthy Places podcast in which we discuss the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality.

In this episode we’re in Amsterdam talking to Nicholas White, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of the Smart Building Collective, a smart building and pro-tech business with its own certification framework focused on leveraging technology to measure how a real estate asset is performing. 

It covers key metrics such as the building usage, its performance, the building environment, health and safety, user behavior and connectivity.

We discuss how a smart tech is at the heart of both sustainable green buildings and healthy buildings nowadays, as well as playing a role in real estate ESG strategies. We also look at some of the more innovative real estate developments that he’s been a part of recently that give a sense of where the industry might be going in the future.

https://smartbuildingcollective.com/

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Matt

Nicholas, thanks for joining us on the show. Amazing to have you here. You're dialing in from Amsterdam where you’re based?

Nicholas

Yes, I am. Thanks for having me.

Matt

Listen, why don't we start with a bit of background to give the genesis of what you do with the Smart Building Collective. How did the whole thing start?

Nicholas

I personally came from the corporate sector doing large scale IT transformation projects, we were attacking these from the human perspective, really change management, trying to help people maximize the usage of of tech, and getting the most out of it. And what was always quite disheartening was the corporates would kind of roll over their people in that process, which was was quite painful to watch.

I thought there needs to be a better way, there needs to be a more engaging way, a healthier way to do these kinds of transformation programs.

So I left the corporate sector, and I teamed up with a woman by the name of Elizabeth Nelson, and she was doing research into burnout and human performance. I came more from the practical side of working with leadership teams and working in corporate space to make things better.

impact of the built environment on physical and mental health

Then we got this amazing opportunity with CBRE to do a research study on the impact of the built environment on people.

They built a ‘living lab’, the cost was probably about 250,000 euros to build then they started changing all of the things in the office environment, from the plants to the food, air and light over the course of 10 months.

They would do cognitive tests on people to see what the impact was. So the results were amazing. And then when we left, Elizabeth was asked to do it again, with booking.com. And we did a huge research study here in Amsterdam, that dictated their new headquarter plans, which was really quite cool.

Same thing happened, you know, it took a long time to build, expensive and the research results were amazing. The Living Lab collapsed after the research study was done, which looking back is completely logical that that happened.

Then we did it a third time, this time for GSK in the UK - GlaxoSmithKline. After that it was, okay, is there not a better way to do this? Where is there a standard? And this was around 2018 -2019. Where is there a standard that we can just plug into and do research more effectively, more efficiently and more collectively.

Developing a smart building standard for real estate

We came across the smart readiness indicator, which was the EU's approach to a smart standard but for the rest, nothing else existed. So we started to think about doing it ourselves. And that's kind of what we did. And we launched in 2020 The smart buildings certification.

green buildings, healthy buildings and smart buildings - whats the difference?

Matt

Okay, so let's go a level deeper, because I think a lot of people will have heard perhaps the term a green building, which is essentially a building that's designed to minimize its environmental impact, so externally oriented while a healthy building is a terminology more oriented internally thinking about the impact the building has on its occupants.

You just used the term smart building, it's in your brand. It's in your name to the core of what you do. So how does a smart building fit into that spectrum of green buildings on one side and healthy buildings on the other?

smart tech in buildings for real time management efficiencies

Nicholas

For us, you know, smart building is about technology, it's the digitization of real estate, it's an enabler. It's nothing more than that it shouldn't be a goal in itself to make a smart building, it's about the results that we're trying to achieve with that asset, and then working back to think about, okay, how can we make that more efficient and easier to do and more real time.

So it isn't essentially a tech component on both sides - on the healthy building scene, if you're not measuring it and monitoring it in the long term, you can't effectively justify the upfront investment that you put in, you need to keep an eye on what's happening.

You have sustainability, you have health and wellbeing in real estate. But there's also efficiency gains through the management and maintenance of your asset, creating a better user experience, which isn't just about the health of occupants, it's also about human performance and culture and community and building a way for people to connect with each other. And with the asset, you also have kind of new business models that are emerging from the enablement that tech provides.

I think we all have heard the pressure that the commercial real estate is under with the changing of work, flexible working and so on, with a smart building we have the ability to see what's working versus what's not working, I think you're in a much better position to make rational decisions as an owner or developer.

the smart building framework

You've created essentially your own framework that gives some structure to how you think about smart buildings. I think that's such an important piece of of how you communicate your position and the your, let's say, view of the real estate industry.

So it's clearly at the core of what you're about, perhaps you could just give us a quick overview of those component parts that make up your framework.

Nicholas

Yeah, sure. So the smart building certification, where we always are saying is founded in research, and practice, and we're constantly optimizing it with our community, we actually made a change from the smart building certification to the smart building Collective, we did that last year in August. And the reason for that is that as we were certifying buildings, we see that not a single one of them is similar. They're all completely different.

So the certification really is being informed by the collective, the smartest buildings we find and the smartest solutions we find are informing the benchmark and constantly changing it. So in a way, you can start to think about it as a bit of a web 3.0 approach to certification in the sense that it is dynamic, and it is moving and and we're learning as we go.

But in essence, the certification that we have created, starts with the results, right? Like what are we actually trying to do with these assets? And then works back to the technology of how do we get to that result. And that result is broken into a number of different modules within the certification.

Smart building usage data, performance and indoor environment

So the first module is building usage, you know, how does one have kind of overview and control over how the assets are being utilized - from occupancy, to how amenities are being used, these types of things.

What kind of technology do you have in place to understand how your asset is being used, the next module is building performance, then you can really think about your sustainability aspects, your energy consumption, your water consumption, how the asset is actually performing against the goals and against the promise.

We have a module on building environment, which is thinking more about your health and well being. And it's really about your indoor environment being sound, light, indoor air quality, these types of things.

How do we use technology to make sure that the environment is healthy and in state for people to use it in a good way. We also have a module on safety and security, of course, which is both physical security, but also digital security. As you put more smart building more technology into a building, we need to keep it safe, we need to keep the cybersecurity at the forefront. But it's also about physical security and Disaster Mitigation.

The last module is user behavior and collaboration. So how can people find each other? How can they interact with the building? How does community get created?

Integrative design in smart buildings

And then all of those modules are actually brought together by a module we call integrative design, which is how can we actually with the least amount of technology, maximize the value in the results and all of those different areas? Instead of having a technology for each piece? How can we make sure that the technology becomes an aspect that adds value to all those different areas?

governance and real estate esg in smart buildings

One of the things that really sets us apart is we have a huge emphasis on governance, process, access to data, do the right people have access to the data to do something with it? And is the organization structured in a way that actually can do it? Because I think, you know, a smart building without actually using that data is you could argue, is that smart?

Matt

Perhaps for anyone who's not aware of some of the intricacies of how that works, then you're effectively looking at the facilities management, the building management company that's looking after the building, we're talking a fairly large scale, say mixed use or office development on behalf of the tenant or on behalf of effectively behind that the investor? Or is it the tenant themselves who has some role and wants access to that needs to be involved.

Nicholas

Well, you know, ideally, it's a communal effort, the whole idea is to break down silos and to be working together, to forge better relationships between the owner, property manager, tenants and all the different suppliers that are in there. I think where the industry is, right now, which is challenging is that all of those things are being done in silo, every single one of those different stakeholders is dealing with their piece of the puzzle, which in the end, makes it quite a quite challenging.

Ideally the stakeholder map would be doing this together. But what we see in practice is that it's coming from different perspectives, like we will do a certification for a tenant that is interested in understanding what their building is capable of doing for them from a tenant perspective, and they can use it to then work with the landlord to say, ‘hey, from my ESG perspective, I need to have better energy consumption or at least better insight into my energy consumption’, these types of things.

We also do it from a building owner perspective that says, ‘Hey, I've laid in an incredible tech stack for my potential tenants and my property managers. How can we help them?’ So with with your certification level, and with your communication and your training, how can I improve it? How can I make it better?

real estate ESG and the role of smart technology in buildings

Matt

It's tapping into this rising tide around awareness of ESG. I see it coming from above in terms of pension funds and investment groups coming in, then applying pressure on the investors or the building owners, but also from below, sometimes from the employees themselves, and oftentimes from tenants of the building.

Nicholas

Yeah, and you know, where we're at right now is just meeting people where they are, right, like, we have some of the most, you know, the smartest developers in the world, who, on one side, want to help tell the world that they've created something really spectacular, and something really special.

At the other side, they want to say, Okay, where are my holes? Where are my gaps? What am I not thinking about yet, so that I can, you know, push push the envelope for, for this development, or my next development? And then you have people who are like, well, what is smart? Like, how do I even how do I even start?

How do I even where do I begin, and that was one of the main reasons we pivoted to the smart building Collective is that, you know, we're not here to say, this is how you build a smart building, the collective is informing this certification, and then there's a ton of people in this community that are there to help, you know, from all different walks of life, but different culture different, you know, views, different ways of supporting, and so you can find the solution when you when you're looking for it.

size and scale in smart building certification projects

What is the minimum size that you're noticing in the market, in terms of buildings, and developers coming to you with an interest in in going deeper into this, you know, oftentimes, you might see smaller developers, smaller building owners, smaller tenants who have increasingly aware of this ESG angle and want to get into it, and then look at the breadth of a big healthy building certification such as WELL for example and just even to go for one or two elements of that looks like a big undertaking. We don't have the manpower, we don't have the budget? How does smart fit in? Is there a bespoke approach that one can adopt, as you say, just to kind of get started? Or is it all or nothing? And therefore, is it a certain size of building that makes more sense?

Nicholas

No, it's definitely not all or nothing, it's, start, wherever you are, start small, start getting a little bit more control in different areas. And, and, you know, what's so exciting about the benchmark system that we've created is, is that it's, it's moving, you know, it's rolling, but it's also applicable to whichever asset class whatever size, you know, whatever type of property in whatever country, because what we what we are doing is actually starting to build some benchmarks, right.

So if you are a building of 5000 square meters, which is, you know, not that big. Let's compare you to other 5000 square meter buildings. And we get the we get the question, you know, should I have a user wrap? Well, it depends, you know, it depends on the context that depends on what you're trying to do. It depends on the value cases you're after, what are you trying to accomplish with your property. And in that sense, you should really be compared to like minded buildings, and not to, you know, all of them.

Smart app technology in building management

So a user app would then be a smartphone integrated user face where you can see what's going on around you in the building in terms of key data points and metrics, from air quality to light usage and electricity usage. Is that essentially what it does?

Nicholas

Yeah, they come in all different shapes and sizes. A lot of user apps focus on the community aspects of a building, you know, what kind of workshops are happening today? What kind of events? What run happening this afternoon with a group of people. Some of them go beyond the building itself and connect you to the community in the smart city space, you know, what's going on in the neighborhood. But you also see them as being utilitarian where they start to become the key to doors or the light switches.

To get the utilization up of those apps, you start with the utility piece, if you can't open the door without it, then you're going to start using that app. And then growing into that community aspect, we also see the app becoming kind of the financial backbone of the building that it manages everything from room booking to amenity usage.

So sky's the limit as to what you can do with that functionality. That's a big one.

peer reviewed smart building certification and accredited professionals

And around the the actual smart building certification process itself and your accredited professionals or your “APs"“, how does that network function?

Nicholas

Our certification comes from the world of academics. So when you research and you write a publishable paper, it always gets peer reviewed. A scientific paper doesn't get published in the market until it's been peer reviewed. So we thought, you know, Shouldn't that be how we assess buildings? So we built a peer review model, where you have independent assessors who are looking at this building, and those assessors come from different cultures different, you know, parts of the world, and they look at your building. And then what we have in the certification process is we have quantitative data, and we have qualitative data. The quantitative data is very much based on, you know, do you have the technology?

Do you have the functionality, the coverage, you know, is it there, and that's quite black or white, right? It's either there or it's not there. The qualitative data is much more the grays that are going on in buildings, right? It's like your governance structure. How are you organizing yourself as a building, your integrative design?

You know, how did you decide to build your smart building? Did you use a one massive supplier for the whole tech stack? That's, you know, really been around for 30-40 years? Or did you use a bunch of startups and scale ups and have them work? Together? Right? There's no kind of wrong answer there.

You just make different decisions for different reason. And so there's definitely a qualitative piece that needs to be taken into consideration of a this is what we see in buildings, this is the pros, this is the cons. Maybe this is something you should think about, you know, moving forward.

And that peer review model has been hugely successful in the sense that these assessors get to, you know, assess buildings all around the world, and they get to see the different cultures and the different ways that they're built. And it's become a really, really incredible community of people who not only are working together daily to find good solutions for their own work, but but also helping inform the collective to improve this certification improve what we do.

Matt

Is there a particular building or case study that you've been involved in that could be representative of where things are going or where things are at today in terms of smart building excellence?

a leading example of a smart building

Nicholas

One that we just certified that is amazing is the Hausmann’s Hus in Oslo. It's a family office that built this incredible building from an altruistic perspective, they said, it's not about building a smart building, it's about building the best building we possibly can. And it just happens to be digital.

They created these smart grids throughout the building, which allows them to configure the building any way that they want, for however big or small a tenant would be, and give that space its own smart infrastructure, its own energy metering, its own light metering, completely self contained. A traditional building will take the energy of the building and divide it by the amount of square meters, and send a bill to the tenant based on that calculation.

This is a completely more sophisticated way to do it. And then it's just the most beautiful high quality building. They also have open, transparent contracts with their suppliers, where they say, we're gonna guarantee you your margin, but we're going to discuss the cost. And they originally thought that the budget of the smart building was going to be significantly higher, because of all this smart tech but by managing it in an open and transparent way with their suppliers, they've actually been able to create a building that's the same cost, which I think is something we all need to learn from. It makes good business sense.

Matt

Where do you see your growth over the next three to five years?

Nicholas

I think part of our role is that we need to get these success stories and these stories out. We need to write these cases, and we need to make them quantified, and share how impact is being made. I think we're gonna get to this point of - what is the right level of technology for buildings, and what's too far? The emergence of having buildings be larger than themselves, I guess, being part of a community and not just stand alone.

buildings become part of a community

We’ll also see that with co-working spaces and you know, community spaces, these kinds of things. I think that's going to be a huge component in the future. We just certified a building in in Finland that has its own geothermal energy plant that they built under the building. And it is now feeding the energy to the entire grid around that building. There's something to be said about being a global citizen with your project!

I have the strong belief that out of challenging times, which the commercial real estate is definitely in right now, comes some incredible opportunities. And I think the emergence of cultural, experiential type places, is emerging. I'll be very curious to see how that evolves as it becomes a completely different asset class, not a museum, not a concert hall, not an office or a hotel but something new.

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FURTHE READING:

• World Green Building Council Health Wellbeing Framework

a guide to real estate ESG management software

Real estate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting is becoming the norm for real estate developers and funds as societal pressure combines with investor pressure from above to nudge the industry towards a Triple Bottom Line position.

As real estate ESG consultants annual reporting is an obligatory piece of the puzzle, although it should be seen as a way to summarize and review the work done, rather than it becoming the focus of the work - a subtle but important difference!

Much of ESG is now about producing quality data and management of that data is fundamental, no longer can a spreadsheet do this job for us effectively, especially not for real estate portfolios with multiple, fully operational buildings. By setting up the necessary software early on in the ESG journey, a real estate developer sets themselves up for success in properly capturing, managing, and eventually disclosing ESG data.

ESG software helps us to track, visualize and monitor progress in real time throughout the year and then to transparently communicate to customers and investors the sustainability work delivered at the end of the year too. This process of collecting and analyzing data on an ongoing basis ensures alignment with the appropriate policies and ESG frameworks.

Depending on a real estate developer’s specific requirements, it can be difficult to find one single piece of ESG software that does everything we need, so here is a review of the major players right now.

Greenstone - ESG

Greenstone is a sustainability reporting software that enables organizations to more easily manage their ESG data and ESG reports. It’s primarily about data collection and data management, allowing the ESG team or external ESG Consultants to focus more on reporting, analysis and decision-making. Greenstone’s software and support services include modules concerning the environment, frameworks, and health and safety.

The Greenstone Environment module helps process environmental data, track consumption and carbon emissions, and manage and communicate this data.

The Greenstone Frameworks module ensures that clients meet the requirements of various reporting frameworks such as CDP, SASB, GRI Standards, TCFD, UNGC, and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The Greenstone Health and Safety module helps organizations to collect and analyze  incident data and manage reporting (Greenstone). 

https://www.greenstoneplus.com/

Sustain.Life – Environment

Sustain.Life focuses specifically on ways to track, reduce, and manage carbon emissions and footprint. Additionally, the platform aligns this process with current certifications and standards to prepare for third-party assessments. The software aims to simplify the collection and management of data in one place, facilitating collaboration in the process.

Sustain.Life first aids in the measurement of greenhouse gas emissions, then provides step-by-step guides for emission reduction strategies, and finally provides ways to offset unavoidable emissions. The carbon footprint is calculated through Sustain.Life’s carbon calculator using scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, meaning it considers all levels of a business’s emission behaviors.

Once the footprint is calculated, the software provides a sustainability plan based on the organizations budget, time, and climate impact. Finally, there are offset opportunities provided on the platform, allowing users to offset emissions from building users on an automatic monthly basis (“Sustainability”). 

https://www.sustain.life/

Brightest - Social 

Brightest, another big player in ESG, Social Impact and Sustainability software, aims to increase efficiency in collecting, managing, and reporting data. Its particular USP however is around the social impact component, at least for now.

Brightest helps organizations collect data on environmental accounting assets, supply chain, energy and resources, and employees, teams and departments through stakeholder surveys, utility and invoice analyses, and life cycle analyses.

Once collected, data can be transferred to the Brightest ESG and sustainability dashboard. There, emission targets are tracked, carbon accounting is regulated, social impact and community characteristics are noted, and action plans are recommended based on the available data. As data accumulates the software can then start to aid further with reporting and disclosure.

https://www.brightest.io/

Workiva - Governance

Workiva’s platform enables a simpler ESG reporting process through data management, the provision of reporting templates, and a single location for policy management. This software helps answer the ESG reporting questions of: who needs to be involved, what data should be included, and how can it be consolidated efficiently?

Workiva provides a platform to store data, create custom data sets and calculations, and format that data for reporting. Much of this process is automated. In addition, the platform allows for easier collaboration through simplified task management and progress tracking.

A master index of policies makes it easy to track and manage content for policies, standards, and other ESG guidelines. This allows ESG teams to keep all relevant ESG policies and documents in a single location.

https://www.workiva.com/solutions/esg-reporting

Measurabl – Real Estate ESG

Measurabl is arguably the most widely recognized ESG data management software in commercial real estate right now. The tool was designed specifically for real estate and is entirely data driven. It automates and consolidates much of the ESG processes, including ways to set targets, track performance, use benchmarks, and create reports. 

This platform helps measure data such as electricity, water, fuel, and waste usage as well as tracking sustainability targets. In addition, it helps users manage social and governance documents, and keep track of green building certifications and annual reporting frameworks.

https://www.measurabl.com/

Sources

Brightest. “Simplify Social Impact, Sustainability and ESG.” Brightest, https://www.brightest.io/  

“ESG Reporting.” Workiva, https://www.workiva.com/solutions/esg-reporting  

Greenstone. “Sustainability, Supply Chain and ESG Software Solutions.” Greenstone, https://www.greenstoneplus.com/

“Real Estate ESG.” Measurabl, 12 Apr. 2022, https://www.measurabl.com/

“Sustainability Management Software.” Sustain.Life – Sustainability Management Software, https://www.sustain.life/  

https://gresb.com/nl-en/

ESG Social Equity in Real Estate Development South Africa

social equity / urban regeneration / student accommodation / real estate development / ESG / our future cities

Welcome to episode 44 of the Green & Healthy Places podcast in which we explore the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate. This time around we have more of an ESG social equity focus as we're talking to Rashiq Fataar, the Founding Director of Our Future Cities in South Africa. 

Rashiq works across disciplines, engaging with city planners, designers, researchers and anthropologists in the quest for promoting more sustainable and inclusive cities not just in South Africa where they are based, but increasingly around the African continent as a whole.

Our conversation covers the weight of South Africa's history of top-down oppression and how that impacted urban development during apartheid, the kind of tactical urban intervention that can turn a handful of parking bays into a parklet, the challenges of developing enough affordable housing, how concerns over safety can be baked into new precinct development plans from the start, examples of successful downtown regeneration in Durban by developers Urban Lime, and the student accommodation opportunity in neglected 1960s era buildings in central Cape Town and Durban in particular.

Social equity is one of the key components of a real estate ESG strategy covering Environmental, Social and Governance.

Rashiq is erudite, determined and fighting on the front line of city development so here he is.

Conversation highlights

we are only 25-26 years into a democratic society here in SA, which is very young, in terms of having these basic rights and freedoms, what we've inherited is an urban project which stems from economic, social and cultural injustice

if you took an aerial view of Cape Town city center, you took an aerial view of Johannesburg, Durban, they're not dense enough in terms of residential population to to be 24/7, walkable, vibrant spaces where restaurants, cafes, schools, and other services start to respond to that demand.

‘walkability’ - not just about having pavements But about sufficient levels of activity, enough destinations and of course decent lighting to make it safe - even the most well landscaped route won’t be used here at night if it's not safe.

Contact info

• Our Future Cities

• Rashiq Fataar / LinkedIn

• Urban Lime SA

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Citylift Foreshore Freeways, Cape Town, Our Future Cities

Full transcription follows:

MM: Rashiq, thanks for being with us on the show today. Great to you have great to have you as a guest.

I thought we could start with an initial introduction to the context in which you're working there in South Africa and the government's policy of black economic empowerment and how that's influencing the work you do around urban regeneration and development.

RF: Thanks, Matt. Great to be here. That's a very large question. But I suppose I'll start by giving some context.

I think in most parts of the world, they've obviously been difficult histories, whether it's Colombia or, or in the years, but Africa is a very particular history where I would say that, over about two to 300 years, there's been top down planning and oppression based on race, in particular, what we call persons of color, or black, African or colored in the South African context.

And so, whereas many cities and towns have developed gradually, and, you know, despite inequality or despite racism in South Africa, it is quite a scientific planning approach, so that all parts of urban life and City Living for the longest time was based on the ideal that the white population deserve space and ownership of land, and a good quality of life. And that everyone else needed to be far away, have less rights and have their movement and and who they marry where they live managed.

Introducing ESG social equity in real estate post-apartheid

According to the sort of ideal of separate development called apartheid, but ultimately that seeped into every aspect of life from the bus you used to the museums you could access to whether your culture could be expressed, or you could even protest.

And so I think that's the point to start with that we are only 25-26 years into a democratic society here in SA, which is very young, in terms of having these basic rights and freedoms, what we've inherited is an urban project which stems from economic, social and cultural injustice, on so many levels of people's psyche, and urban environment.

MM: Thank you for that intro. It's such an interesting topic. And so crucial, I think, for those of us working in this space, where, perhaps, certainly in Europe, that such things are almost taken for granted, that that shouldn't be the case. And yet, there are clearly examples for say, in the south of the US, for example, where similar things happening not that long ago.

And so today, in terms of a positive promotion as a way to rebalance that status quo as a way to empower and provide greater sense of social equity, like, how can your role, how can our future cities, as a business contribute to that and up to now, how have you been going about contributing to that that sort of generational transformation whereby cities are able to find a greater form of social equity for all groups, no matter what race they are coming from?

RF: Yeah, I think we've, we've always taken a quite a sort of pragmatic approach. The first is, you know, collaboration and cooperation with all sectors, so government, businesses, nonprofits, communities, individuals, which is quite difficult to suppose. I think there's the perception that to be on the side of, of people and communities and, and their prosperity, you have to be against government, and you have to be against business. And there are times that we are and we do advocate very clearly, and as an independent group, we do so. That's the first thing, I think it's sort of creative, but messy, tumultuous, and sometimes productive relationships, which are not perfect processes.

And then second, I think is just small steps to a better future. What can we do in the next year or two? Whether it's that's a tactical urbanism, can we take two parking bays away, provide free Wi Fi and a place to sit for those who can't afford coffee shops on high streets? Or can we study the culture in a particular neighborhood of migrants so that the public spaces start to reflect how they trade, how they live, and how they move around spaces? And in that particular case in the in the Bellville Town Center, which is about 20 kilometers from the Centre of Cape Town. Its priority people from across across the African diaspora, so Somalia, Ethiopia and so forth living there safely and in societies that are evolving.

So I think those two are quite key - finding ways to cooperate and taking small steps, be it policy or physical spaces, or getting conversations going, for example, in the affordable housing space.

inclusionary housing model, Our Future Cities, Cape Town

Affordable housing and ESG social equity in real estate

One of the biggest challenges we found, when we joined that field, through a conference we hosted was that developers had never sat in a room with nonprofits and government working in the affordable housing space.

So if you think of London, which has quite an established set of rules and guidelines around affordable housing, in South Africa, despite having some of the highest income inequality in the world, if not the highest in Cape Town and Johannesburg, they haven't sat around a table really to say, how do we make this policy work? What are the requirements and what is possible? So it's in its various sort of layers, I suppose that we do our work.

ESG Social equity in the public realm

MM: Okay, so I pick up on a couple of things, let's just dip back into the public realm discussion, because I think that's a really interesting piece there around how you, in a sense, give even a small slice of the city. And I presume we're talking about sort of downtown urban centers, back to those who perhaps as you say, I'm not in a position to spend the equivalent of 10 US dollars on a milky sweet coffee in a Starbucks equivalent, right. And so you're trying to create these small interventions now is that is that about bringing greenery back into the to the city is that about? Public furniture and safety are one of the main concerns and the drivers, when you're looking at an intervention like that?

RF: I think there's the ambition of the dream. And that is, you know, large amounts of affordable housing for lots of different incomes and groups, in or near the city center, you know, so lots of supply of housing, which, takes a long time, and it's been particularly slow in African inner cities, I think, for political reasons for lack of expertise.

That's the prize, the densities of Spain or elsewhere are based on lots of people living close together, and having quality spaces. So that's the prize. But I think the second, what you touched on was, is how do we provide a positive lived experience based on how somebody occupied space or how, or their sort of mobility needs, and the way we think about it is, as much as possible to have empathy and to understand the lived experience of that person.

So while somebody working close to where I am today, close to Parliament, or the original government buildings in Cape Town, might need community park, of course, where they live, they're probably traveling an hour and a half in the morning, if not more to their place of work, spending about eight to 9 hours, and then traveling another hour and a half, two hours. So for us, safety needs to be incorporated into all aspects.So you know, it's really important that public transport interchanges with our public spaces are clean, well managed wallets, you know, have free Wi Fi, it's really important that we understand that when somebody arrives in the center, it might be the norm for people in London to walk the last two miles of Africa, it's required you're not going to pay for another trip to go you know, two or three kilometers further.

So, safety of streets safe crossings. For example, outside our central train station, you know, some of the crossings which I think a traffic lanes are about sort of maximum 45 seconds. So we do advocate for long crossing times for for people walk walking around or doing the sort of last mile or two trip and then of course when they're at work apart from their work environment which which is somewhat out of our hands in some cases, the plazas, the squares, the gardens, the parks, that could probably encapsulate somebody's entire public space experience for the day.

It might be possible for myself to go to Sea Point which is just near the ocean and go for a walk or run off to work but for somebody else's traveling two hours back home, and and do two Politics and other reasons possibly living in a dangerous neighborhood, it's unlikely that at 7pm, at night in the dark, they're going to go to a local park to enjoy this sort of public space experience. So our city centers do matter. And where people are for the majority of the time influences their health, from safety, to shaded areas of respite.

Church Square, Urban Lime, Our Future Cities, Cape Town

Nature and wellbeing in urban downtowns

MM: You're essentially integrating elements of nature, nature exposure, bringing nature back into the city of social equity, and a wellbeing aspect, I think with with what you're describing there. So it makes complete sense, the affordable housing piece, just to give us the context on that in terms of how that relates to geography. Or do you see an opportunity in terms of downtown regeneration in terms of bringing affordable housing, in collaboration with developers back into say, the downtown of Joburg or Durban? Or is it essentially a project that's inevitably going to be limited to the peripheries of the city? And therefore that mobility question is locked in place for the foreseeable future? Or is it a combination of both?

Urban development policies and ESG social equity

RF: It's certainly a combination of both. Unfortunately, some of the the policies of the early 90s of the Mandela era government meant that where land was cheap cities built housing, and they were often poor quality, and quite far away. So we've actually had a perpetuation of apartheid style planning, because land was, you know, further away with cheaper, large open pieces, governments generally delivering substandard housing.

I think there are a few myths about in a, in a city center or city center housing. And the first is that there's no financial case, when in reality, there is a massive demand from various income groups. And we're not talking about free housing or housing, that is for those of no income we're talking about. I think, in the UK, it's called essential service workers, key workers.

So we're looking at sort of full spectrum of people whose lives could gain time and gain so much more by living in or closer to their place of work. And then secondly, you know, some of these centers at night are quite dead, you know, so they don't have the residential density. So if you took an aerial view of Cape Town city center, you took an aerial view of Johannesburg, Durban, they're not dense enough in terms of residential population to to be 24/7, walkable, vibrant spaces where restaurants, cafes, schools, and other services start to respond to that demand.

Student accommodation and ESG social equity

I think there's, there's a financial case, but there's also just a social case for bringing back people into the center. And I think we've started to see that, especially with the student population, there are that almost sort of these overnight conversions of inner city office buildings. I think there are four or five and Cape Town currently underway of converting buildings to accommodate students and students are one group of the affordable housing group who need accommodation at certain prices, which the market couldn't, couldn't provide. So I think everything from baristas, to nurses to police, men and women, there's a massive demand the financial case, and and again, it reduces the carbon emissions of people's travel and of course, just, you know, sort of pure spatial justice in terms of people being excluded from the past. Yeah.

Sustainable precincts and ESG social equity

MM: Let's loop back round onto the student accommodation piece, because there's more in that… But it seems like in a sense, what we're talking about is the creation of of sustainable precincts, right? Because you're saying it can't just be a residential piece that comes in because then if there isn't also the public space, the public realm interventions, and there are also ground level retail and street lighting and the sense of community etc. So other examples that you're seeing in SA at the moment around developments of precinct level where a developer in a public private partnership perhaps is able to come in and almost take over a small area of the city rather than just one building? Is that a viable solution? And is it happening yet? And if not, then, what's the workaround?

The role of precincts in urban regeneration

RF: Yes, precincts and districts are the way to go. I think you need a focus area of change and you need to demonstrate change. I think. I was recently again near the The Civic Center of government building in Cape Town and it's a very windy part of the city and it's got a bus station and the the Civic Center, which is where the city's local government is housed. And just across the road is a private development with a massive open restaurants landscaped garden. That is Sheltered is wind and it was amazing to me how two different blocks one delivered entirely by the private sector. And one, the government volume by the public sector had completely different experiences. The one was harsh, windy, modernist, unprotected and sheltered and had no retail. The other had all of these things had spaces for people to sit to to buy lunch, or, or people who brought their lunch, it was sheltered when protected. It had embedded sort of principles of good landscaping and using rainwater.

Precincts are important because it essentially is private sector needing to drive change. And to do so often you need scale, from a financial perspective, from a viability perspective. And you sort of hope the public sector comes along, because I think there's this idea, at least in South Africa, that public sector must alone drive the change. And I think that example, you know, with two buildings, really adjacent to each other shows you how you could treat people correctly and provide them with open welcoming spaces. Without it officially being a public led project. And this, these, both these spaces are you know, within the sort of biggest transport interchange and in the city within, you know, two minute walk. And, and so I think our precincts are great to demonstrate change to stitch buildings together.

Crime rates and urban development

And look for Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the world, I think it's important to think about each and every block, how do you make it safer for women and girls to move through a particular background to move from one block to the next. And I think having two or three vibrance precincts with with, you know, active street frontages, and then having nothing for two blocks is quite, we call them crocodile zones. So you really want precincts to work at scale, so that there is enough enough activity over large parts of the city.

Walkability and ESG social equity

That was linked into the way that we've defined ‘walkability’ - not just about having pavements But about sufficient levels of activity, enough destinations and of course decent lighting to make it safe - even the most well landscaped route won’t be used here at night if it's not safe. So precincts are essential. And I think it's that mesh of public private that people are uncomfortable with. But it really is the sort of the driving factor, we can start to see change, which actually includes the majority of people.

Student accommodation as social housing

So you mentioned the student accommodation piece, and it's a sector that's currently going through a process of what can only be described reinvention, at least in the US and Europe. I mean, there's there's so much to use an overused term disruption in the market going on. But I'm seeing a lot of innovation. And I wanted to just ask whether in terms of those mixed use developers going into previously less desirable districts in downtown areas, for example, like, Are they are they leading with student accommodation? are they leading with affordable housing and building in retail and street level activities? Is that typically the mix? Who's what are the what's the first entry point into that urban regeneration process?

RF: I think it's different I think, because Africa and cities located on Durban and Johannesburg don't have proper affordable housing, affordable accommodation, affordable housing policies, which require a certain percentage, it's unlikely that in the short term, that's going to be what's leading. And that's very unfortunate, because we've lost, let's say, 25 years of that, of any sort of privately delivered units in that space.

Urban regeneration in Durban, South Africa

What we're seeing is I suppose if we look at the work of Urban Lime and the city of Durban for example, what they found was that there was massive demand from small and micro businesses, but no inner city buildings, which provided for this smaller space needs.

So in one building, I think it's called Pioneer Place, empty for years. Each floor was compartmentalized into into sort of smaller units for musicians and tailors and seamstresses, and the entire building within a year was was fully occupied. And I think the same, you know, in parts of Cape Town where we see be in secret office buildings, you know, with Windows and views of the harbour and the ocean and, and the mountain are, again, almost within a year or two being converted into student accommodation just because of the massive demand.

So I think they'll always be, they'll always be response based on what people need and what the demand is. And I think in Durban, you could only really rent a massive floor plate in an office building. And so but there was a demand for from businesses. And in Cape Town and other places, there's a huge demand for well located student housing, because of the proximity of academic institutions and colleges.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of policy, we've seen that in areas that need regeneration, often it's, it's, there's either a lack of response or lack of investment, or there's a lack of incentive to develop students or affordable housing, or in cases where there is development, it's really speaking to the upper middle income micro units, when bid units. And again, that's just because that's the market that can afford that project without any subsidies or support from the government.

So we're, we're also seeing in some cases, industrial areas slightly changing, they're sort of more slightly more design and art firms moving in. But I think like various parts of the world, you know, the East End of London, that's generally how it happens, and quite slowly until the sort of glass tower start arriving. So I think it's in this case, it's really up to the public sector to, to earmark land available for social and affordable housing, to get those sites off the ground.

And to have, you know, a broader sector of the population benefit from the change, I think, as much as we don't like change, there are so many case studies around the world with the edges of cities, the semi industrial areas, the areas within five to 10 minutes of the center of the city changing, you know, the industrial areas are no longer needed in particular places, I think you will see even now, for example, you know, offices are no longer needed in particular places. So there's always going to be an evolution, it just about whether a public benefit is embedded into that. And whether it's, you know, topologies, and councils can be proactive, and in making sure that as that change happens, the public benefits over two or three decades.

Urban planning in social equity

MM: So at the city planning and legislation level, are there currently, incentives or even enough pressure being placed on on the private developers to incorporate elements of either an enhanced public realm or some element of social housing, which is something that we see a lot of in, in Europe, for example, you might expect to find that in South Africa, but sounds like perhaps at the moment that perhaps isn't happening or isn't happening at a at a sort of uniform level across the board?

No, it's not happening. I think firstly, as I mentioned earlier, the word cooperation, I think, in a, in a maturing or a young democracy, I suppose like, if you could think of the US or more developed societies, cooperation, lobbying, negotiating, it's, it's pretty much part of the culture, you know that you'll come to the table with 10 items, but you'll probably both only agree on six is Africa, we haven't quite gotten there, it seems to be all or nothing. And then, of course, with the absence of policy or incentives, the market simply won't respond. And I think we've, we've we've missed the we've missed the mark when it comes to public infrastructure as well.

So if a building can't include or meet all the requirements, then there could be alternative so I think it's called Section 16, or section 16 policy in the UK, where you need to or require to contribute to build the the nearest subway station, or to provide the station or to maintain a park and I think with those sort of new relationships, you simply have to start and and and I think given the pressure on local government budgets here, unfortunately, there'll be forced into that space, which will require that deals be made to ensure that let's say a new developer maintains a park over 20 years or develops spaces above the transport hub, but operates and maintains the transport have over 20 years.

So these these relationships now might seem complicated or outside of policy, but I think like we've seen with the water crisis in Cape Town with pandemic, the future often arrives. And we only seem to be responding because I can show you that the the current model of local governments here, which relies on property taxes, as a main revenue source, it's not really a viable approach. So I think, I think for the best, they'll be forced into partnerships, like the ones you've mentioned.

Challenges and opportunity in real estate social equity

MM: It strikes me that there is, as so often with, with South Africa, this complex mix of historical ties and the weight of past events on the present, and the struggle to liberate society in some way from that, and to sort of reinvent, but at the same time, on the flip side, there's just amazing opportunities. And every time I'm back there, you can see glimmers of hope of, of just fantastic work being done by visionary developers, perhaps not at the scale that you might like, but I think it's worth pointing that out, right?

I mean, it's like, I know, there's a lot that isn't working, but at the same time, as you go down there with with the right vision, and you can see what's going on, in some corners, and they might be, you know, the exceptions to the rule, rather than the standard of the norm. There are still there's just so much that can be done, I think we need to balance the two, right, because it must be so frustrating to be doing what you're doing and to be facing an uphill struggle. But at the same time that there is surely this sense of amazing opportunity, right and and ways to really have a tangible impact, not just on individual lives, but effectively on the future. Layout and, and livability of the cities that you're you're working in, right.

RF: Absolutely, I think the base of our work is also which I might have failed to mention is that, you know, if we get this right in, let's say, Cape Town, or Durban, it's really an exceptional quality of life. For the for the, for the majority, the weather is great. First of all, if you think of a city, like Durban, between their World Cup Stadium and the center, there are huge plots of land publicly owned, which would essentially give, you know, 1020 50,000 people, social housing, within five minutes walk on the beach fund, you know, sort of 345 Kilometer promenade, so we're not talking about simply giving people that access, we're talking about probably one of the highest qualities of life that could be delivered.

If you think about Cape Town, if we can improve people's travel time by just 3040 minutes, they'd have to go to bed at time to walk on the beach to go for a hike. So I think that's really the opportunity is that if you can start to provide a city for everyone, both in terms of housing and transport, they will have better access more time to be in some of the best places in the world, really. And I think that's why it's important to to frame the opportunity that way.

The cost of living is reasonable. The the amount of immunities that are available at no cost are numerous. The amount of parks and nature reserves that you could use without you know, without buying anything is incredible. So I think this is why we pushing so hard for these changes is just the I would say it's you know, it's if you give people more time and of course, a better way of living and improve their economic situation, they arguably are living in one of the best places they could.

MM: What have you got going on at the moment? What is the next 12 months or so look like for for your team and our future cities?

RF: At the moment, we are we are actually looking into the student accommodation space. We're looking into, into forming better connections across Africa. So expanding the kinds of work and projects we're having in the next few months looking more than a sort of Pan African level. And then yeah, we're continuing a lot of our research on, you know, we were inspired, for example, one tiny project were inspired by London's colorful crossings, you know, how do you raise awareness around community safety, and I think London delivered about 18 of those art inspired pedestrian crossings.

So we're trying to sort of ramp up that project and get through the red Tech with the city on that. And, and the yellow is something that is closer to my arches. We're looking at a 2014 horizon, infrastructure and spaces and what the city might need in the longer term, but Yeah, watch the space and they're always at any one point. 10 or 15 projects, and I should probably organize my thoughts better to to sort of, to present the punchier ones.

MM: Good on you that it's meaningful work that you're doing. I think that's that's the key message. So it's an if people want to reach out to you follow along, see what projects you do have coming over the next few months, and what's the best way for them to connect?

Yeah, so they could follow our future cities on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and then they could even just connect with me on my personal LinkedIn as well.

ESG Community - supporting Social Enterprises

ESG - procuring from local social enterprises

boutique real estate esg

For our real estate development fund client in London we implemented a comprehensive series of social enterprise partnerships as part of a community outreach program, many of these changes also have a positive impact on creating a healthy office whilst creating goodwill amongst employees and financially supporting those in need, both directly and indirectly.

Handwash and soaps come from The Soap Co, manufacturers based in East London of vegan, cruelty free, natural and certified plastic-free products that also create jobs for the blind (hence the subtle use of braille in their branding), disabled or otherwise disadvantaged.

These products are of high quality, have minimalist packaging so look perfectly at home in corporate work environment, whilst still subtly communicating their social purpose. A perfect balance between form and function.

ESG plan - ethical coffee supplier for the office kitchen

Fairtrade, organic coffee is supplied by Cafedirect, an award-winning B Corp business owned and led by smallholder farmers via seven supporting partnerships in Peru and Africa.

Cafedirect were the first to become Fairtrade certified back in 1994 and have developed home compostable packaging solutions. A London Fields-based social enterprise we were proud to support.

ESG plan - ethical water supplier for meeting rooms

Mineral Water is now supplied by BELU that give 100% of net profits to WATERAID to support the provision of clean water and hygienic toilets to disadvantaged communities around the world. BELU are also carbon neutral, use 100% recyclable packaging, lightweight ethical glass that is 35% lighter than normal and use recycled plastic bottles.

ESG plan - ethical office fruit supplies

Office fruit boxes are supplied by Fruitful in Croydon, in biodegradable packaging - a company devoted to making healthier workplaces, donating any food waste to local food charities such as zoos and nurseries, as well as planting one tree in Africa for every box delivered.

ESG plan - ethical office stationery supplier

EthStat is an ethical stationery cooperative that gives away 100% of its profits to charity and has developed an ethical, environmental supply chain of everyday office products. They are fully carbon neutral and have banned the use of all single use plastics in the business. We were pleased to support them with a regular office supply purchases.

Contact us to discuss how we can help you implement an ethical procurement plan for your business.

esg real estate consultancy in london, UK

we have an ongoing real estate ESG advisory role with Black Mountain Partners in London, UK

boutique real estate ESG consultants in London, UK

we create strategic sustainability plans for a business and help deliver those objectives on an ongoing basis.

Examples of our real estate ESG consultancy deliverables for Black Mountain Partners in London, UK

Alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Evidence of aligning the business with UN Sustainable Development goals, specifically three were elected as targets where most impact can be made:

3/ Good Health & Wellbeing

11/ Sustainable Cities & Communities

13/ Climate Action

An ESG-led development strategy

Evidence of the company having adopted the systems thinking strategies of the Circular Economy and Cradle to Cradle in the initial selection of its Developments and subsequently in their design, delivery and ongoing operation, right through to re-purposing or demolition later in the building’s life.

Employee Satisfaction Survey

We carried out an employee satisfaction survey in July 2020, using these outputs to identified a number of key themes to target for employee engagement over the coming year, then attached an action to each of them and scheduled follow-up 1-on-1 sessions with the CEO for a later date. Key themes included office acoustics, indoor air quality, biophilia and plants, nutrition in the office kitchen and active ergonomics.

Creation of a Company-wide Environmental Policy

We wrote an overview of the company’s approach to systems thinking, demolition works, materials selection, in-built flexibility, lifecycle strategy, sustainable site selection as well as location & transportation objectives as they relate to green building.

Social Enterprise Partnerships & Community Outreach Plan

We implemented a comprehensive series of social enterprise partnerships as part of a community outreach program, many of these changes also have a positive impact on creating a healthy office too. From office soap supplies by The Soap Co, to fairtrade organic coffee by Cafedirect an award-winning B Corp business, carbon neutral BELU mineral water, fruit delivered in biodegradable boxes by Fruitful in Croydon and ethical stationery supplies via fully carbon neutral EthStat.

Net Zero Carbon Building Commitment

We helped the business commit to following the World Green Building Council Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment that states all buildings within the portfolio should be Net Zero Carbon by 2030 at the latest.

Staff Training & Professional Development Plan

We arranged for a number of additional staff training sessions including mental health first aider training and LEED Green Associate study.

GRESB Assessment submission

We planned and delivered the company’s first annual GRESB real estate ESG assessment submission. This is both a considerable amount of project administration on the one hand and tactical implementation of multiple smaller components of a wider ESG strategy for the business as a whole (see example above).

Mental Health Awareness

We aligned the company with the Lord Mayor's Appeal Healthy City campaign around promoting greater mental health awareness in the workplace by assigning a mental health officer who took specific training to become a Mental Health First Aider with Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England, a social enterprise offering specialist workplace training.

Waste Management Strategy

We created a waste strategy covering design, construction and operational phases of the building process.

Created a Governance Policy

Created an anti-corruption and anti-bribery company policy

Created a Whistleblower Policy

Created an IT & Communications Systems Policy

Created a disciplinary procedure policy

Created a Privacy Standard

Contact us here to discuss your corporate social responsibility or ESG strategy requirements

GRESB consultant for real estate ESG

consultancy for environmental, social & governance (ESG)

GRESB assessment

What is GRESB for real estate ESG?

As part of any progressive Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) strategy, we advise real estate development funds on the GRESB Real Estate Assessment.

This global benchmarking system now receives submissions from over 1200 property companies, real estate investment trusts (REITs), funds, and developers spread between 64 countries.

The annual reporting period from April 1st to July 1st was extended by one month due to the impact of COVID in 2020, with results released in November.

How can a real estate esg consultant help with the GRESB process?

First and foremost, GRESB is about reporting, it also provides a guideline for real estate developers to follow in terms of their ESG strategy.

By signing up for the first year of GRESB assessment free, a business can start the meaningful process of aligning itself with ESG objectives, prior to taking the assessment a second time, having had a practice year to improve their score. This is our recommended process in any case.

Can anyone manage the annual GRESB ESG assessment process?

There are various online training modules available, that we duly went through the first time but in practice, we see this as about integrating ESG policies into the heart of a real estate business, piece by piece until the entire enterprise is pointing in the same direction. That is the magic of GRESB!

By the time the GRESB assessment window opens up each year in April, the hard work should be done, it is then about collecting the necessary data to show what has been accomplished. And to be clear, GRESB require a lot of proof…

ESG strategy first, GRESB second

We consider the first step in this entire process for a real estate business to be the creation of solid ESG strategy that has the buy-in from the CEO and Board, as appropriate, otherwise it is never going to go anywhere fast.

Primarily the goal is for the business to proactively support people and planet in its work throughout the year, both internally and externally. There is simply no way to cheat this, no shortcuts are on offer, it is about ground-up sustainability policies, the health of employees, ethical business practices and good governance, amongst other things.

What will real estate developers need to show to GRESB?

GRESB is a rigorous online assessment process that requires equal parts thought leadership and commitment to the cause of ESG with sections on Management, Performance and Development.

Management in GRESB covers ESG strategy, policies and processes as well as risk management and stakeholder engagement, while Development focuses on how a business has implemented ESG in the design, construction and renovation of real estate projects.

Companies with operational projects under management on the other hand, use their building performance data to complete the GRESB Real Estate Benchmark encompassing Management and Performance components, with the latter analysing data around energy consumption, GHG emissions, water consumption and waste.

We completed this process for Black Mountain Partners in London, prior to them completing their first redevelopment project 68 King William Street. Once that project is officially occupied, there would the be scope to additionally completing the GRESB Performance component as well.

GRESB Management assessment

Management category measures the entity’s strategy and leadership management, policies and processes, risk management, and stakeholder engagement approach, composed of information collected at the entity level.

GRESB Performance assessment

Performance assessment measures the entity’s asset portfolio performance, composing of information collected at the asset portfolio level. It is suitable for any real estate company or fund with operational assets.

GRESB Development assessment

Development assessment measures the entity’s efforts to address ESG-issues during the design, construction, and renovation of buildings. This component is suitable for entities involved in new construction (building design, site selection and/or construction) and/or major renovation projects, with on-going projects or completed projects during the reporting year.

To enquire about how we can help you develop a GRESB-friendly ESG strategy for your real estate business, contact us here.