Real estate giant JLL revs up renewables switch

Real estate investment firm JLL has provided an update on its work to cut emissions and eliminate waste, revealing it is close to meeting its 2020 goal of sourcing all its power from renewables.

According to its newly-released annual sustainability report, entitled Building a Better Tomorrow: UK Highlights 2018, the firm has now transitioned 30 per cent of the buildings it manages for clients to a renewable electricity contract.

Meanwhile, in the company's own corporate offices 90 per cent of the electricity now comes from renewables, with 60 per cent sourced from a single solar farm in Suffolk.

The firm also revealed it has replaced more than £2m worth of single-use plastics with eco-friendly alternatives.

The update suggests significant progress has been made towards JLL's 2020 sustainability targets, which include moving to 100 per cent renewable electricity across the firm's estate, reducing energy consumption by 35 per cent, and sending zero waste to landfill.

However, it also reveals that less progress has been made towards other goals, including an aim to reduce business travel carbon emissions by 10 per cent.

The firm said it is also seeking to contribute to the wider real estate industry's drive to become greener. It is working with the UK Green Building Council's Advancing Net Zero programme, which launched at the end of 2018 to develop strategies to help the industry hit zero emissions by 2050, and ensure all new buildings meet net zero standards by 2030.

JLL executives are also involved in the Business in the Community (BITC) Circular Economy Taskforce, which aims to bring businesses together to share ideas for extending the life of goods through reuse, repair and recycling.

"The built environment has an enormous impact on the world and we are entering what many are calling the 'make-or-break' decade for action," said Chris Ireland, CEO at JLL UK.  "This report highlights some of the progress we are making on key social and environmental issues, including climate change, to help shift opinion and behaviour within our business and across the industry."