Mounting environmental concerns from tenants have driven almost 90% of European institutional investors to plan extra expenditure on retrofitting, according to research from ESG data specialist Deepki.
The company surveyed 253 commercial real estate asset managers in the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy, and found 88% plan to increase capital expenditure on retrofitting over the next three years, with 9% saying spending will “increase significantly”.
The biggest driver for this is occupier demand, with 66% citing this reason.
Other factors include new environmental standards rolled out at national level (57%), financial reporting requirements (51%) and net-zero targets for 2030 and 2050 (43%).
The top practical measure through which building owners are looking to upgrade assets is insulation, with 68% listing it in their top three priorities.
This was followed by the regulating of lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment (61%), and the replacement of old equipment with new technologies such as heat pumps (51%).
Deepki commissioned the research for a new report called The Retrofitting Research Report: How European commercial real estate managers are preparing for a net zero future.
Respondents were real estate asset managers working for pension funds, insurance asset managers, fund managers, banks and other institutional investors with portfolios worth a combined €226.3bn (£189.2bn).
The report predicts 80% of 2050’s building stock already exists, making retrofitting to meet future environmental requirements a major concern for asset managers.
Deepki chief executive and co-founder Vincent Bryant said: “Data has given us the power to quickly measure and understand the scale of the challenge at portfolio level, thanks to virtual retrofit technologies.
“Now, we must address the entire decarbonization journey if we are to create real impact.”
Image © Arnulf Hettrich/imageBROKER/Shutterstock
Send feedback to Jim Larkin
Follow Estates Gazette
