Investa 2008 Sustainability Report

Energy & Greenhouse Emissions

To the best of our knowledge, all Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions from operations within all businesses and facilities under the operational control of Investa have been reported in accordance with the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 and its associated guidelines.

This is the second report in which Investa has endeavoured to apply these parameters.

Scope 3 emissions are not reported.

‘Scopes’ are defined under the international reporting framework of the World Resources Institute/World Business Council for Sustainable Development reported in The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard.

Scope 1 emissions

Scope 1 emissions (direct emissions) include greenhouse gases emitted from sources owned or controlled by Investa and are derived from:

• Natural Gas used for heating air and water, the data for which is provided by supply authority billing;
• Diesel used for operating generators and pumps, the data for which is sourced from supplier records and billing;
• Refrigerant gasses used in air conditioning plant, with the top-up volume purchased used as a proxy for the volume emitted as a result of leakage, the data for which is sourced from suppliers; and
• Fuel used by company fleet vehicles, the data for which is sourced from fuel charges.

Scope 2 emissions

Scope 2 emissions (indirect emissions) include greenhouse gases emitted from sources owned or controlled by others in the production of:

• Electricity used to light and power our properties and activities, the data for which is provided by supply authority billing.

Totals are subdivided by activity as follows:

• Investment portfolio, including directly owned assets and assets managed on behalf of investors.
• Developments, including activities associated with the development of commercial, industrial, and residential assets.
• Housing, including construction and operation of display homes.
• Occupied premises, including Investa staffed office tenancies.

In the reporting period we had five commercial buildings under construction which are all planned to achieve at least four stars NABERS Energy:

• 436 Johnson Street (4 stars)
• 7 Botanica Corporate Park (4 stars)
• 6 Eden Park Drive (4.5 stars)
• 7 Eden Park Drive (4.5 stars)
• 40 Mount Street (5 stars)

thereby achieving a weighed average (by floor area) of 4.7 stars NABERS Energy and surpassing our 4.5 star target.

Performance Analysis

The data on this page requires additional interpretation. At first glance, it suggests the rate of reduction in energy use and greenhouse gas intensity is slowing. However, this result must be examined in the light of Investa’s business model and—specifically—transaction activity in the past year.

The key factor driving the apparent decline in rates of reduction in energy use and greenhouse gas intensity was transaction activity. In 2007/08 seven buildings qualified for inclusion in our reporting figures that previously had not (six through acquisitions of existing buildings), while two were sold during the period and therefore removed. No ‘new’ buildings were added. The energy efficiency of the seven buildings introduced to the portfolio was on average approximately 10% lower than the rest of the Investa portfolio.

Investa’s approach is to acquire and manage properties in order to improve their quality (and therefore investment returns). We use a variety of strategies to do so, including upgrades of assets’ environmental efficiency. As a result, the purchase of existing buildings tends to ‘drag down’ our portfolio’s overall performance. Similarly, our results are affected by the sale of buildings we have upgraded. Increasingly, we recognise the value of setting individual targets for our buildings.

Over the reporting period we analysed the performance of assets that have been in our portfolio for a number of years. This analysis has demonstrated the effectiveness of our approach to managing buildings. It shows that:

• major improvements have been made in the first three years of Investa managing the assets;
• initial improvements in performance can be sustained with vigilant management and improved upon, albeit at a slower pace;
• improved energy efficiency seems to correlate with improved tenant comfort (in most buildings);
• a target of 60% reduction in energy use may be achievable in many existing buildings with a combination of capital investment and advanced management processes.

Throughout 2009 we’ll be working on more detailed analyses. Please keep an eye on our website for our updates or contact us for details.

Download Emissions & Water Footprint spreadsheet

Sample Sydney Building

The graph above shows one example of the analysis of our building management. Relating to the left vertical axis (showing MJ/m2 is the aggregate of electricity and gas usage), the dark blue line projects the base year’s energy use over the analysis period; the orange line represents actual energy use; and the light blue line represents an energy use profile that is 60 percent lower than the base year’s. The shading illustrates the energy savings achieved.

Each flag represents a management intervention:

1. Installed sub-meters (~$50k)
2. Installed Variable Speed Drives (~$50k)
3. Boiler refurbishment (~$25k)
4. Chilled water valve replacement (~$50k)
5. Building Management System user interface upgrade (~$20k)
6. Fine tuning

In this case, the total capital invested was approximately $200,000 and the total energy savings over the period shown in the graph was $760,000. In addition, as illustrated by the tenant hot/cold complaints (reliably tracked via our IT system since 2005), comfort appears to have improved with energy consumption.