There is an interesting Estates Gazette article by Jim Larkin on the findings of research backing a report by Deepki on the approach of commercial real estate managers across pension funds, insurance asset managers and institutional investors to retrofitting.
It indicates that upgrading insulation is the top priority, followed by lighting, heating, and ventilation and then installation of new technologies.
This does suggest that the combination of environmental standards, financial reporting requirements and net zero targets is driving change in the sector and that once the “low hanging fruit” such as insulation and lighting have been addressed, investors will likely turn their intention to new technologies to drive further reductions in energy usage and increased sustainability.
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.