GREEN INITIATIVE

Rooftop & Perimeter Greening

Greening of building roof tops and perimeter areas is not just for improving a building’s asthetics, but also provides important functional and cost benefits to tenants, their customers, and the local community.  

January 2023

Topic Area:

ESG

Service Line:

Asset Management

ESG Inititative:

Greening Initiatives

Key goals

Green and biodiverse roofs

Perimeter green-scaping

Recycled rainwater for irrigation

Blue roofs for better water management

Bird boxes & feeders

Typical Situation

While some forward-thinking developers are now integrating sustainable elements into their projects at the early design stage, sadly, the volume of existing buildings which lack any environmentally friendly aspects far exceeds such properties. 

Typically roof tops are barren areas with unsightly roof mounted plant and machinery and with no alternate function or purpose, while perimeter/surrounding areas are devoid of established trees or biodiverse plantings and used only for parking purposes with nothing more than an expanse of concrete visible to the eye.

Planned Actions

Depending on the size and configuration of the roof areas in our properties, we seek where feasible, to create green and biodiverse roofs which involves the planting of green materials on top of a roof structure and in doing so, often recreate lost habitat. 

Good green roof design doesn’t just provide visual aesthetic, but also provides spaces which support local wildlife and ecology, while often providing important insulation and surface heat deflective qualities which can save tenants heating and cooling costs through more static interior temperatures. 

Green roofs can also provide numerous other benefits such as reduction in water run-off, additional building insulation, and reduction in the impact of external and internal noise. 

In hotter more desolate climates, green roofs can be planted with a variety of hardy, drought tolerant species such as wildflower, herbs, grasses and sedums while different depths and types of lightweight substrate, provides for a wider variety of habitats for invertebrates, enabling the plug planting of larger plants and shrubs. This will also provide greater aesthetic value to those overlooking on onlooking to the building.

Greening of external perimeter areas is also of importance and can improve the health and wellbeing of users and the local community encouraging greater social interaction, exercise and contemplation via the provision of play areas, outdoor workspaces, sports facilities and seating. 

Water management is then another important aim for us, whereby we also try to integrate blue roof systems, designed to attenuate, or store rainfall. A blue roof allows for the build-up of water above the waterproof membrane for a defined period to enable the attenuation of stormwater and control discharge of runoff at a designed flow rate. Captured water may be reused within the building to flush toilets, water plants or other uses. 

Expected Benefits

Enhanced asset values due to future proofing which meets forthcoming environmental legislation and tenant requirements, tenant operational cost savings, contribution to the reduction of CO2 emissions, beautification of local areas and the bettering of local communities.

Accordingly, we work with tenants to help determine the payback period and alignment of water management initiatives with their own corporate sustainability targets, and some instances, forward fund water efficiency recommendations which require capital investment or incrementally recover such costs via service charges.

Target Green Initiatives

Green Lease Clauses

Green Initative

Energy Conservation

Green Initative

Waste Recycling

Green Initative

Case studies presented herein are for illustrative purposes only, and are select examples in order to illustrate how our ESG policies can be applied in practicality as it relates to our future portfolio investments. Nothing contained therein should be assumed to be an undertaking or commitment that all investments we make are suitable candidates for such ESG initiatives or that such improvements are even achievable in different circumstances. Certain information has been sourced from third parties and may be incorrect or incomplete.