From 2024, around 15,000 companies in Germany will be required to publish sustainability reports. The trigger is the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive).
15,000 companies – that's roughly as many as the cultural and creative industries in Frankfurt am Main. Or the healthcare industry in Berlin. It is certainly not a small number. Many real estate companies – if they are not already obliged to do so or are already publishing voluntarily as an optional extra – must also address the issue.
Real estate companies that rely on smart meters in their portfolio have an advantage. Energy data, water consumption etc. can be transmitted automatically and reduce the manual effort required for reporting. There are also opportunities that go beyond the purely environmental level.
A simple example: collected environmental data can be given to the tenant by the landlord as consumption feedback. They thus function as social measures relating to communication with users – which is worth reporting in a positive sense. At the same time, the data serves as proof of governance in terms of key figures and climate targets that a company has already achieved. E therefore has a positive effect on S and G.
Together, let's see the new obligation as an incentive to take the steps that are already due on the path to greater digitalization in the area of sustainability.