Global healthcare client achieves sustainability goals three consecutive times
JLL partnered with the client to design, implement and optimize their sustainability strategy, exceeding their targets three times in a row (and earning numerous accolades along the way)
Sustainability
15% reduction in energy consumption from 2007 to 2015 and 1-2% annual reduction each year following
Spotlight
Achieved publicly-stated sustainability goals three consecutive times
Square Feet
25M s.f. across 8 countries
Background
In 2007, the client – a Fortune 10 global healthcare company – hired JLL to deliver a broad range of real estate services, spanning facilities, project, portfolio and energy management across their US portfolio of office and administrative facilities.
The client was early-on in their sustainability journey at this time, but they were already committed to participating in external sustainability frameworks including CDP and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. The client’s real estate team was accountable for managing the organization’s sustainability reporting, and they enlisted JLL’s team of energy and sustainability experts to help them:
- Baseline their energy consumption and develop carbon emissions calculation methodologies
- Establish sustainability strategies, set energy and carbon reduction targets and develop an action plan
- Execute on that action plan, by implementing strategic energy and sustainability programs
- Optimize their energy and sustainability programs to maximize results and minimize costs
Since the client first launched their first set of energy reduction targets, they’ve set and achieved their publicly-stated environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals three consecutive times – each time engaging JLL to help them set (or adjust) their multi-year strategy, execute their action plan, and optimize for maximum results.
Along the way, JLL has helped the client to adjust their strategy and programs across their portfolio, which has dynamically evolved over the years due to mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, and global expansions. JLL now supports the client across more than 25 million s.f. of diverse space and site types spanning 8 countries.
Featured solutions
This case study features an integrated energy and sustainability solution, which brings together JLL offerings from the following product families:
- Sustainability Strategy & Reporting
- Building Assessments & Optimizations
- Portfolio Energy & Sustainability Management
- Renewable Energy Supply
It’s also important to note that the client’s energy and sustainability solution is delivered as part of an integrated real estate services delivery model, which brings together JLL services across facilities, project and portfolio management into a centralized organizational structure.
Phase 1: Starting the sustainability journey with a focus on energy reduction (2007 – 2015)
Challenge
From the very beginning of the client’s partnership with JLL, they knew that sustainability was becoming increasingly important to their stakeholders – and they needed to establish specific, actionable external energy and sustainability goals to meet these heightened expectations. The client engaged JLL to help define their goals, develop and implement an action plan, and continuously optimize to both performance and cost targets.
Approach
We helped the client to:
- Define a multi-year target to achieve a 15% energy reduction from 2007 to 2015, focused primarily on reducing their energy consumption year-over-year
- Ensure that the JLL team’s performance incentives aligned with these targets, by placing a portion of the JLL management fee at-risk
- Launch and optimize a portfolio energy and sustainability management program across their portfolio
- Manage their energy and sustainability program data, creating a single source of truth
- Prepare and submit their first Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) report in 2009 (and execute this same preparation and submission process every year following)
Results
JLL helped the client to:
- Reduce run-rate utility spend in excess of $3 million annually through operational improvements, low-cost/no-cost measures and targeted capital investment
- Reduce energy consumption portfolio-wide by 15%
- Improve their CDP scores with each annual submission and be included on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index in 2014 and 2015 – signaling their commitment to sustainability by publicly disclosing their performance to investors, customers and employees
- Gain recognition on Newsweek’s Green Rakings as one of the world’s top greenest companies in 2015 and earn recognition as a leader in sustainability among S&P 500 companies
Phase 2: Expanding commitments to energy, carbon, water and waste reduction (2016 – 2018)
Challenge
After the client achieved their 15% energy reduction goal, they strove to broaden their external sustainability goals to also address carbon, water and waste. They needed helped setting aggressive yet realistic targets in each category. They also needed to understand what steps they needed to take to optimize their existing portfolio energy and sustainability management program to deliver results against these newly established targets.
During this time, the client was also focused on right-sizing their real estate portfolio. As the client continued to expand their operational footprint and real estate portfolio, their site renovation program to make their new spaces fit for purpose grew in parallel. With so many large construction projects running simultaneously and on tight deadlines, they needed a scalable, repeatable process to capitalize on available utility rebates and ensure that they weren’t leaving any money on the table.
Approach
We helped the client to:
- Define appropriate targets for energy, carbon, and water reduction
- Assess the current state of their waste output, to inform the development of specific waste reduction targets
- Optimize their existing portfolio energy and sustainability management program to maximize results across this expanded scope of activities
- Continue to build their public profile in sustainability
- Validate the results put forth in their external sustainability reporting, by providing annual assurance reviews and AA1000 statements
- Programmatically identify energy rebate opportunities and apply for incentives, in alignment with the client’s expanded capital project program
- Evaluate and conduct due diligence for renewable energy procurement and renewable energy investment opportunities during supply contract analysis in deregulated markets
Results
JLL helped the client to:
- Set (and exceed) their publicly stated targets for energy, carbon, water and waste reduction:
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- Support their growing reputation as a leader in sustainability, for which the client the client was recognized multiple times by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and Newsweek’s Green Rankings
- Maintain rigorous data quality practices, enabling continued high-quality external sustainability performance disclosures
- Secure $1M in energy rebates and incentives associated with in-flight capital projects since 2018
- Achieve $882k in energy savings from 2016 to 2018
Phase 3: Global expansion (2019 – present)
Challenge
In recent years, the client has expanded their international operations in key markets in Europe and Asia, which created a number of challenges, including:
- Onboarding and managing utility data as the portfolio grew across increasingly diverse markets
- Inconsistencies in utility bill payment processes across markets, which hampered efforts to track and measure utility spend globally
- Managing compliance reporting requirements and submissions across multiple jurisdictions, including the European Union
Against the backdrop of this global expansion, the client also turned their attention to setting new 5-year sustainability goals. They knew that sustainability was becoming increasingly important – to their employees, their customers and their investors – and they sought to ensure that their latest goals capitalized on the momentum they’d built in sustainability over the previous decade.
Approach
We helped the client to:
- Consolidate utility bill spend data into one view globally
- Manage their European Union compliance submissions
- Set 5-year sustainability targets for carbon, water and waste reduction
- Execute action plans to deliver on the client’s new sustainability goals, by optimizing existing energy and sustainability management programs to further reduce carbon, water and waste
- Co-author the environment section of the client’s annual corporate sustainability report
- Provide thought leadership, consulting and support to multiple client leaders around environmental and sustainability issues and trends
- Support new business pursuits by helping to craft RFP responses about the client’s own sustainability process
Results
JLL helped the client to:
- Meet greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets in 2019 and 2020, setting them up to successfully achieve their externally-facing goals by 2023
- Implement water efficiency measures across their US portfolio sites to align with LEED guidelines for indoor water efficiency
- Launch an enhanced waste management program at their larger headquarters facilities, using food waste management and best-in-class recycling practices
