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Best practice example: Commercial Real Estate

ABN AMRO

The real estate market is challenged by CO2 emissions and lack of sustainable innovation. Our ambition is to accelerate the sustainability shift by supporting our clients’ transition to sustainability. We believe data collection, data enhancement and digital capabilities are key in being successful’ says Tjeerd Krumpelman, Head of Advisory, Reporting & Engagement.

Therefore, we have developed several tools in the past years to track implementation, like:

  1. ABN AMRO Sustainable Investment Tool (including the BREEAM Quick-scan), which gives detailed insight for objects and portfolios on current situation and possible measures to improve. The tool is populated with data such as building type, age, location and floor area for each building, and provides a desktop assessment of investment costs, financial returns and carbon reductions for the top-5 applicable measures to the building. (https://www.duurzameinvesteringstool.nl)
  2. Our pipeline tool, which keep track on financed green landmarks, transformation projects and energy upgrades.
  3. Our 100% financing program for sustainable measures.
  4. Our annual portfolio check on energy label improvement based on PCAF method
  5. Sustainability indicators are mandatory in the valuation report. Each valuation of commercial property for ABN AMRO has a sustainability clause. The section has been developed in close cooperation with valuators; The criteria for assessing the assessor are based on the guidelines of the RICS. The entire life cycle of objects, including by year of construction, renovations, operating costs, energy costs, CO2 emissions and economic life are included.
  6. Our label C action tool for offices. As of 2023 every office building is required to have a minimum energy label C. We only (re)finance offices with an energy label C of better. We have recorded which object meet the minimum requirement. Which objects haven a plan to up-grade or redeveloped to a different use (mostly housing).

ABN AMRO’s total loan amount of Commercial Real Estate is € 10.6 billion (annual report 2018). Following the PCAF methodology, ABN AMRO estimated the CO2 profile of its commercial real estate portfolio in 2018 to be 418 kton CO2 emissions. The results by type of building are shown below.