Investing in Sustainability Service Providers
ECD Energy: Measurement, Benchmarking Technology and Resources
In July 2008, Jones Lang LaSalle acquired the environmental consulting firm, ECD Energy, best known as the developer of technology underlying environmental rating systems for buildings, including Green Globes for the Green Building Initiative (GBI) and Go Green for BOMA Canada.
“Our clients are asking for guidance – to help define sustainability for their real estate portfolios, provide benchmarking tools to better manage their properties, as well as a practical roadmap to improve property performance,” said Lauralee Martin, Global COO of Jones Lang LaSalle. “There are a number of strong and developing property standards around the world, all of which we strongly support, such as LEED®, BREEAM and ENERGY STAR, but there are few efficient tools like the Green Globes/Go Green programs that allow owners to bring their entire portfolios up to these standards. ECD has demonstrated real leadership in sustainability strategy and has developed a wide range of sustainability tools that can help our clients address the carbon footprint of their entire portfolio.”
Through this acquisition, Jones Lang LaSalle gained the use of ECD’s technology platform for assessing the sustainability profile of commercial buildings and benchmarking across portfolios. The tools assess new building designs, existing building operations and interior fit-outs in terms of their energy, water and environmental impact as well as the health and comfort of building occupants. As the industry demands more transparency, these tools and the expertise of the ECD staff will help our clients measure their performance and further their progress towards their sustainability goals.
Upstream: Sustainability Consultancy
In November 2007 we acquired Upstream, the UK’s leading real estate sustainability consultancy. The benchmarking that Upstream undertakes is becoming an industry standard and a key influencer for institutional investors, developers and other real estate stakeholders. Upstream also works as sustainability advisors to clients to help companies set sustainability agendas and provide stakeholders with an accurate picture of how they have managed sustainability issues in their businesses.
In July 2009, Upstream Sustainability Services at Jones Lang LaSalle was appointed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) as lead strategy consultant to develop global sustainability guidelines for the construction and real estate sector. GRI, an independent, global action network and a collaborating center of the United Nations Environment Programme, has pioneered the development of the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting framework. The framework sets out principles that organizations can then adopt to measure and report on their economic, environmental, and social performance.