UBC Graduate Research

Green commercial real estate : corporate social responsibility Goldberger, Nicole

Abstract

This report is a guide and reference document for best practices in corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the global commercial real estate industry. This report identifies the drivers and trends in CSR in the real estate industry, and how such strategies have been converted into tangible operational initiatives and corporate changes. The report examines thirteen corporations, which are considered to be leading global real estate companies based on their profitability, transparency and sustainability index ratings in: The Carbon Disclosure Project, Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, the FTSE4Good Global Index, and the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations List. These companies were evaluated by reviewing the above indexes, industry reports, and each company’s respective web site and CSR report. The report provides an overview of CSR and discusses best practices within each of its key: economic, environmental, social, and cultural. Economic: includes a company’s financial performance, their commitment to corporate philanthropy, and their contribution to the community. Environmental: consists of an environmental policy that enables a company to develop strategies to manage energy and emissions, resource use and waste, sourcing and biodiversity. Social: refers to a company’s employment policy, including demographics, training and education, health and safety, and the satisfaction of its employees. In addition, it takes into account the governance and transparency of an organization. Cultural: divides into three main categories, including employees, suppliers and the community. It relates to the training and retention of employees, the type of suppliers a company uses and its community engagement. Each area is looked at in-depth with case study examples of companies that are considered to be best practice. By embedding sustainability into a company’s overall corporate strategy it will enable them to achieve a sustainable bottom line. Real Estate companies can utilize these recognized best practices to implement sustainability in their organization.

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada