Energy and sustainability consultant Westbridge Advisory (Westbridge) has been mandated by Skanska’s Commercial Development Unit, a multinational real estate development company in Central and Eastern Europe, to conduct an ESG analysis for a selection of its office portfolio. The properties are located in Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic and Hungary and comprise a total lettable area of around 135,000 m².
The aim of the portfolio screening was to identify strengths and weaknesses of the analysed properties with regard to sustainability standards that will come into force in the future. In close cooperation between the two parties, risks were identified, and possible courses of action were provided to further optimise the energy consumption and reduce CO₂ emissions. The support of Westbridge is one of the ways the office company Skanska uses to manage the challenges and to minimise the risks associated with climate change in its real estate portfolio. The project was realised by the Polish teams of Westbridge Poland Sp. z o.o. and the 100% Westbridge subsidiary agradblue GmbH.
"With a long-term view of its own real estate portfolio, especially around the topic of sustainability, Skanska secures the value of its properties. We were able to give the Swedish company a helping hand with our independent, external view: After the portfolio analysis, Skanska now exactly knows the specific pain points for each of its assets and can make targeted investments to optimise the ESG performance over a defined period of time," says Danuta Grzywacz, Head of Poland Westbridge Poland Sp. z o.o..
"At Skanska, we have years of experience in designing, building and completing office buildings with minimal impact on their environment. In times of rising energy prices and climate change issues becoming ever more pressing, this allows us to offer solutions in our office buildings, which reduce energy consumption and therefore CO₂ emissions. The efforts and investments we have made in the past showcase that we do not test new technologies in a hurry but instead tested and already implemented them. At the same time, we believe that our buildings can be even more sustainable. Understanding analyses such as those carried out by Westbridge helps us to identify how we can very specifically improve further”, says Łukasz Kwiecinski, Director of Building Value Management at the office company Skanska in Central and Eastern Europe.