- To reduce the carbon footprint of each of our properties
- To adapt our buildings to minimise the impact of climate change
Our focus is to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions on a like-for-like basis in our investment portfolio in line with our 2010 target. In order to do this we have taken a series of actions in 2009:
- Careful monitoring of energy use and continued efforts to improve the reliability of our carbon data in all portfolios. This is particularly important in preparing for the CRC Energy Efficiency scheme as accurate reporting becomes a legal requirement.
- Implemented measures ranging from investment in low-energy technologies from voltage optimisation to providing train tickets for staff to travel to meetings.
- Investigated how carbon is generated at each asset through the use of a bespoke carbon footprinting tool and the Carbon Trust Standard tool.
- Recognising the potential impacts of climate change, we have conducted a detailed climate change study in both the UK and France, looking at three key areas: subsidence, rainfall and flooding.
| Financial indicators |
|
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
| Cost of energy |
|
|
|
| UK |
£6,223,627 |
£7,555,502 |
£10,465,671 |
| France |
Not recorded |
Not recorded |
£2,637,408 |
| Total |
£6,223,627 |
£7,555,502 |
£13,103,079 |
| |
| Energy efficiency investment |
| UK |
£282,659 |
£854,879 |
£53,000 |
| France |
Not recorded |
£590,000 |
£487,048 |
| Total |
£282,659 |
£1,444,879 |
£540,048 |
| |
| Estimated energy savings |
| UK |
£131,671 |
£335,200 |
£979,452 |
| France |
Not recorded |
Not recorded |
Not recorded |
| Total |
£131,671 |
£335,200 |
£979,452 |
| |
| Expenditure in carbon offset (UK only) |
£13,611 |
£11,003 |
£11,834 |
| Climate Change Levy Expenditure (UK only) |
£182,609 |
£71,513 |
£202,373 |
- Since our baseline year of 2006, we have reduced our carbon emissions (expressed in CO2e) from landlord shared services by 15.9% for UK shopping centres, 17.3% for French shopping centres and by 19.6% for UK offices, when normalised by m2 for a like-for-like set of buildings.
- Despite this reduction in consumption, our overall energy costs have risen. This is due to two factors – the inclusion of two new assets in our reported UK office investment portfolio and rising energy costs. Until now, energy prices in France have been regulated by the Government. This will stop in 2010, with a potential impact on costs. This rise in energy spending reinforces our aim to further reduce energy consumption; it also means that the payback periods for investments in energy efficiency technologies will become increasingly attractive in future years.
- For the latter part of 2009 we were unable to purchase green energy in our UK shopping centre portfolio due to a significant lack of availability in the market.
- In 2009, the majority of investment (£487,000) in energy efficiency was in France. A change in lighting systems at Italie 2 shopping centre in Paris represented just over half this investment, which has an anticipated payback period of around 12 years. Hammerson France has 10-year plans in place at all assets, which include prospective budgets for energy efficiency investment. The fact that these plans and budgets have to be approved by co-owners demonstrates the importance of Hammerson France's continued engagement with its co-owners on sustainability issues, particularly in the context of legislative requirements of the Grenelle relating to the refurbishment of existing assets between 2012 and 2020.