So much more than GOOD SPACES

In 2021, Liberty 2 Degrees (L2D) made history in South Africa when it received Green Star Existing Building Performance (EBP) certifications for its retail portfolio. Staying true to its core principles – to utilise resources more efficiently, address climate change, and create healthier and more productive environments for tenants, shoppers and communities – L2D has proved that its sustainability recipe doesn’t just work; it’s improving.

In the second, recent, round of certifications on its stable of retail centres, L2D called on the experts in Existing Building certifications – Solid Green Consulting, and Simon Penso, director and founder of Imbue Sustainability, who is no stranger to the requirements. In fact, Penso helped create the EBP tool and still challenges the requirements he helped map out.

“The client’s willingness and commitment to implementing the suggested approaches was impressive,” he says. L2D’s approach to these concurrent projects was underpinned by the principles of the company’s “Good Spaces” strategic building block. “Building climate resilience has evolved into a business imperative aimed at safeguarding our assets against catastrophic events,” says L2D CEO José Snyders. “We firmly believe that a comprehensive assessment of climate change risks and opportunities, coupled with strategic plans for risk mitigation, while capitalising on opportunities, is essential to maintaining the value of our capital investments.”

Best sustainability practices

According to Snyders, the company is serious about reaching the Net-Zero Landlord 2030 target: this is not a “certifiable” component of L2D’s net zero journey, but as an example, if 40% of water or energy usage was the landlords’ and the other 60% was that of the tenants, L2D is aiming to get the landlords’ 40% to a net zero status through its interventions, initiatives and reductions of usage. Certifying L2D’s projects again is showing the company that it’s on the right track. “These certifications demonstrate a commitment to using best practices and evidence-based methods in our property management and decision-making.”

Nelson Mandela Square

Penso asserts that independent certification allows companies to compare their own assets to those of competitors, and those in the greater market, with tangible and independent proof. “The certification verifies our sustainable design and construction practices, and has enabled us to continue achieving significant energy and water savings, as well as carbon footprint reductions through the adoption of renewable energy usage and energy-efficient technologies,” adds Snyders.

Cooperation between all teams – be it the Accredited Professionals or landlords – is the key to success in big projects like these. “We’ve got to take certification projects from a perspective that certain things will not be in place, and that we must facilitate that transformation to getting the practices and documentation in line and compliant with certification standards,” says Penso. According to him, this includes various workshops and weekly engagements with all teams.

Snyders says L2D is intentional about including employees and management in sustainability goals. “There is a sense of pride when results are demonstrated and success is acknowledged,” he says. “As an example, when Level 2 Net Zero Waste was achieved at our malls, this was communicated to our tenants, recognising the integral role that they played in the achievement of this milestone.”

Previous CEO of L2D, Amelia Beattie, is now Head of Business Efficiencies, Property and Sustainable Impact for the Insurance and Asset Management (IAM) business unit of the Standard Bank Group. Part of her new role includes leading both the sustainability, and overseeing property as the L2D Chairperson for IAM. Says Beattie, “Our extensive resource management programme guides our approach to renewable energy, water and waste efficiency. L2D supports the property sector’s influential role in meeting sustainability goals and has embedded these principles in the company’s strategy.”

Having been in the game for quite some time, Penso adds that there is, in general, a higher level of awareness around the requirements for EBP certifications among landlords and tenants. “They are therefore more willing to get involved, and go the extra mile compared to even a few years ago. The level of awareness has risen dramatically.” This trend played an important part in the second round of certifications.

Sandton City

Building institutional knowledge

According to Penso, it’s clear that L2D is committed over the long term and he adds that the company is transparent about its progress. “There are innovation credits that were approved, where they had different strategies that were to be rolled out over the coming years, and those were being effected. It’s good to see a client that’s truly walking their talk.”

Promenade Mall

There is also some benefit in completing the process a second time around: institutional knowledge ensures a level of ease when it comes to processing documentation. Brian Unsted, Sustainability Lead Specialist at L2D, believes the value of the systems and available data from the first round of certifications cannot be overlooked. “It was certainly beneficial to have documentation stored in a central repository, as it simplified the process for the certification. What cannot be taken for granted is the time required for planning, processing and managing quantitative data, owing to the complexities involved.”

Midlands Mall

Eastgate Shopping Centre

A tight ship

The concurrent second-time certifications did not come without their challenges. One of them was the sheer scale of the endeavour, and the various “moving parts” at any given time. “We needed to ensure that all input from the various teams, as well as the data and reports, were aligned with target dates,” says Unsted. “We ran a tight schedule to ensure that what was required was submitted timeously. Version control was also tricky, especially with data. It required constant analysis and logic checking.”

Botshabelo Mall

Penso says the work going into this effort should not be underestimated. It should however, also not be a deterrent for those considering following the same path. “The process can be less intimidating than it may sound from the outside, but you need the right consultant on your side. The EBP tool caters for everything from a 1-Star to a 6-Star Green Star certification – it is poised as a sustainability journey.”

Mutual trust

The process towards obtaining certification was a rigorous one and required significant planning. The initial step was to appoint an Accredited Professional team to manage the process on behalf of L2D. According to Unsted, Solid Green and Simon Penso were an obvious choice: “We’ve been partnering with them for the past few years, including our Net Zero Waste certification initiative, which was a success.”

Consistency was at the core of this decision too. “At an individual building level, establishing solid relationships between Solid Green and the property management team was important to enable a seamless process, considering the amount of data and documentation required, as well as an efficient project management role to ensure a smooth and timeous completion.”

The process also includes a regular status update on the number of certification points being targeted. The certification process thus provides consistency between certifications. Along with that, there is a clear line of sight for landlords and tenants, who reap the rewards of their efforts during the relevant period. The company then aimed to attain additional new points to improve overall ratings, and were unable to rest on the laurels of previous achievements, because every point needed to be achieved in the current performance period.

Says Snyders, “With L2D’s Net Zero Landlord targets, there are naturally some areas that improve as a direct result of these actions, such as water and energy consumption reductions, as well as the transition towards renewable energy usage.”

A unique benchmarking approach

That said, Penso highlights a few aspects from the certification of this portfolio that stood out for him. In the first place, the willingness of the client to implement suggested approaches. Along with that, he emphasises some of the unique benchmarking approaches, using Nelson Mandela Square and Sandton City as an example. “There’s a high proportion of restaurants in Nelson Mandela square, and restaurants have higher energy intensity than standard retail space. So we’ve had to make sure that we account for that fairly and that we have a bespoke benchmarking approach.”

Snyders believes the long hours of this challenging endeavour are worth it: “Embarking on this sustainability journey is not just to tick a box. We do it to truly create sustainable spaces that benefit generations to come, and where our stakeholders will have a sense of pride in being in our environments, while claiming them as their own.”