AXA Real Estate Investment Managers announces that it has introduced green leases for all its commercial lettings in Germany.
This follows the company's successful implementation of the innovative lease format in France, where circa 20 new contracts have already been signed, a number which is growing significantly given that green lease terms have been introduced in all new commercial leases and renewals, ingraining sustainability interaction with tenants into the asset management routine processes.
The move demonstrates the company's ongoing commitment to sustainability, and represents a further step towards achieving AXA Real Estate's long-term goal of rolling out green leases across its entire portfolio.
As a business which manages approximately 2,800 properties on behalf of clients, AXA Real Estate recognizes its responsibility to minimize the environmental and social footprint of its assets under management, and its long-term goal of rolling out green leases as standard across its entire portfolio, represents just one aspect of a wider, ongoing sustainability program.
Conditions set out in the new green lease format include simple reciprocal commitment terms for:
the setting up of regular meetings focused on sustainability
the sharing of energy performance data between tenants and landlord
the joint definition of asset specific sustainability action plans and the subsequent following-up of their implementation.
Jean-François Le Teno, Global Head of Sustainable Development at AXA Real Estate said: "Building on the success we have already achieved in France, the decision to roll out green leases in Germany further demonstrates our ongoing efforts to minimize the impact of the built environment, and brings us one step closer to reaching our long-term goal of incorporating green leases across our entire portfolio.
"For us, this is not something which is being driven by regulation or requirement, rather it represents a proactive decision to reduce our global footprint by ensuring that environmentally friendly procedures, such as green leases, are woven into the fabric of everything we do on a daily basis."
Matthias Leube, Head of Real Estate Germany for AXA Real Estate, added: "The introduction of green leases in Germany represents the first step of a wider sustainability program to ensure we work closely with our occupiers to limit the impact of our buildings on the environment.
"They are beneficial for both tenants and landlords, given that for an occupier they have a transparent view how to lower their overall costs and be more sustainable, and for AXA Real Estate it represents an important part of our broader sustainability strategy.
"In addition, green leases help to retain and attract tenants, thereby maximizing value for our investors. We also hope that the introduction of green leases will not only become standard across our portfolio but across the whole industry"
Source: FTI Consulting
