measurabl in action
In Gratitude to CBRE
CBRE counts over 6,000 buildings benchmarked in EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, far more than any other organization has recorded in that system. That’s indicative of the type of leadership CBRE is known for – making change by doing. And as the world’s largest commercial real estate services company, CBRE is uniquely positioned to make a lot of change happen.
MEASURE WHAT MATTERS
At the forefront of CBRE’s sustainability leadership is Dave Pogue, Global Director of Corporate Responsibility. Having been at the forefront of the environmental movement for years, it was a natural extension for Dave to incorporate his values into CBRE’s practices. One example – CBRE set a goal to get 100 buildings LEED-EB certified at a time when they had less than 60 LEED-EB certified in total. Now, CBRE has more than 800 buildings LEED-EB certified. But Dave knows being an ESG leader is a moving target that goes far beyond certification.
“Beyond the standards we set for our buildings, we’ve also done a lot of academic research. It’s one thing to emotionally believe in a cause or anecdotally think it’s the right thing to do. But we wanted to get the data to demonstrate that this was indeed the right thing to do,” Dave said of CBRE’s work.
Such academic research has uncovered some interesting findings in the commercial real estate realm. A recent study between CBRE and Maastricht University found that green building adoption has been at an all-time high, as more investors see the value in sustainable buildings. In fact, a surprising 41% of the top 30 U.S. metros met the study’s rigorous standards to qualify as “green building certified.”
PIONEERING CHANGE
Small changes can cascade into big ones via data-driven improvements
Yet beyond the findings of academic research, Dave is no stranger to what ultimately moves the levers of commercial real estate. “At the end of the day, it’s the money that drives a lot of people,” Dave said. “If it can be demonstrated that a building is going to perform better or have less risk, then the money will be inclined to follow, and the whole industry begins to move.”
At a building level, organizations like CBRE financially benefit from understanding how their buildings are operating in order to make data-driven improvements. These small changes can then roll up to huge differences for CBRE and the industry as a whole.
“You can begin to see anomalies and opportunities for improvement just by looking at the data and being more responsive to it,” said Dave. “When the data becomes actionable, that’s where the value comes in. And it’s Measurabl that provides that opportunity.”