UK commercial property investment firms are among the only investors from a handful of countries that fulfil environmental-efficiency requirements set out in a new survey.
Only a select few UK, Swedish and Australian
property investment firms met stringent environmental standards in a survey of 700 firms across the sector.
Researchers at the European Centre for Corporate Engagement at Maastricht University found that the majority of the global
commercial development firms surveyed are not actively managing environmental issues across their portfolios.
Only a few firms came close to achieving the top score on the Environmental Real Estate Index, with four in five unable to report any actual figures on energy consumption.
Commenting on the findings, Maastricht University professor Nils Kok explained that providing a benchmark for energy consumption across portfolios is the "first step" to making eco-friendly savings.
He said: "The current lack of metrics indicates that we are standing just at the beginning of the road to energy efficiency in the commercial real estate sector.
"The environmental performance of the property sector is likely to improve, as many of the property companies surveyed indicated that the assets acquired or developed in 2008 comply with ... energy-efficiency standards."
Investment in commercial property increased in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, which may see an increase in developers spending on energy efficiency.
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