How corporate real estate and facility managers perceive the benefits of different sustainability interventions

Abstract

Climate change is pushing governments to implement sustainability regulations for the real estate sector. Together with the increased client demand to accommodate more sustainable buildings, corporate real estate (CRE) and facility managers are challenged to upgrade the offices that they use with more sustainable interventions. There are many different sustainability measures they could consider as potential interventions, which most likely would each deliver different types of benefits; both from the viewpoint of sustainability as regarding other important organizational outcomes that are influenced by them. This study first identified a list of potential sustainability-oriented interventions and potential benefits from a systematic literature review. Next, CRE/Facility managers were questioned on which interventions they are (considering) implementing and what short- or long-term benefits they are expecting to come out of them. This questioning was done through semi-structured interviews based on the laddering approach. Findings identified 33 potential measures, especially regarding services, skin, and the site. These were related to 18 different expected benefits. The economic, environmental, and social benefits were very diverse and there is no real consensus yet on their exact relationship with sustainable measures. The insights add to the gap in research on sustainability measures taken by CRE/Facility managers. In addition, they give other CRE/Facility managers in practice insight in current experiences and perceived benefits of interventions by their colleagues, to inspire and support their own decision making.