London, 2016-Aug-01 — /EPR Retail News/ — Following on from our switch to renewable electricity purchasing in April 2016, British Land has become a member of RE100, a forward thinking global collaboration of businesses committed to using 100% electricity from renewable sources.
The initiative convened by The Climate Group in partnership with Carbon Disclosure Project will drive the transformation of the global energy market and support the transition towards a low carbon economy.
British Land’s commitment to renewable energy covers its own offices as well as extending to electricity purchased for its managed retail and office properties across the UK. British Land has already made the switch to guaranteed renewable sources certified through Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin, (REGO) products for 98% of the electricity it manages, with the remaining 2% being certified over the next three years.
Purchasing renewable electricity is only a small part of British Land’s action on climate change. We already install renewable energy sources on most new developments and recently completed the UK’s largest installation of solar photovoltaic panels on a shopping centre at St Stephen’s in Hull. Our achievements also extend to greater energy efficiency, cutting Scope 1 and 2 carbon intensity across our entire property portfolio by 40% since 2009 and saving occupiers £13m through these improvements over the past four years.
Matt Webster, Head of Wellbeing and Futureproofing said, ‘We’re pleased to support the campaign; RE100 provides us with a great opportunity to show business leadership on climate change playing a crucial role alongside government policy that boosts confidence and long term investments.’
Emily Farnworth, RE100 Campaign Director, The Climate Group, said: “Real estate companies are uniquely placed to inspire climate action, and can ensure tenants are using renewable electricity. Many RE100 members who rent office and retail space will benefit from landlords like British Land, who can provide 100% renewable power. From improved reputations to stabilised energy bills, there are advantages for everyone concerned. It’s great to see British Land leading by example and we hope that other property developers follow.”
For more information on what British Land is doing to reduce environmental impacts and create more sustainable places, please visit www.britishland.com/sustainability or follow @BritishLandPLC on Twitter.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About British Land
We are one of Europe’s largest publicly listed real estate companies. We own, manage, develop and finance a portfolio of high quality commercial property, focused on retail locations around the UK and London Offices & Residential. We have total assets in the UK, owned or managed of £19.7 billion (British Land share of which is £14.4 billion), as valued at 30 September 2015. Our properties are home to over 1,200 different organisations ranging from international brands to local start-ups. Our objective is to deliver long-term and sustainable total returns to our shareholders and we do this by focusing on Places People Prefer. People have a choice where they work, shop and live and we aim to create outstanding places which make a positive difference to people’s everyday lives. Our customer orientation enables us to develop a deep understanding of the people who use our places. We employ a lean team of experts, who have the skills to translate this understanding into creating the right places, and we have an efficient capital structure which is able to effectively finance these places.
UK Retail assets account for 51% of our portfolio. As the UK’s largest listed owner and manager of retail space, our portfolio is well matched to the different ways people shop today, from major regional shopping centres to single occupier locations. We are focused on being the destination of choice for retailers and their customers by being the best provider of spaces and services. Comprising around 22 million sq ft of retail space across shopping parks, superstores, shopping centres, department stores and leisure assets, the retail portfolio is modern, flexible and adaptable to a wide range of formats.
Our Office and Residential portfolio, which accounts for 49% of our portfolio is focused on London, We have an attractive mix of high‑quality buildings in well‑managed environments and a pipeline of development projects, which will add significantly to our portfolio. Increasingly, our offices are in mixed-use environments which include retail and residential elements. Our 7.5 million sq ft of high quality office space includes Regent’s Place and Paddington Central in the West End and Broadgate, the premier City office campus (50% share).
Our size and substance demands a responsible approach to business. We believe leadership on issues such as sustainability helps drive our performance and is core to the delivery of our overall objective of driving shareholder value and creating Places People Prefer.
Contact:
Helen Lo
British Land
07912 572619
Source: British Land