Singapore office landlords bank on green leases, ESG compliance to woo tenants at higher rents

A GREEN Mark. Carbon calculations. An intelligent building monitor that counts its own resource usage and tells you how much power and water it has saved. These buzzy details are not just high-tech functions that look great displayed in a shiny office lobby, they are increasingly being built into office leasing contracts as landlords go green to woo tenants with sustainability checklists.

“In today’s context, ESG (environmental, social and governance) compliance for office buildings is no longer a good-to-have, but a must-have, especially for large and multinational corporations,” said Tay Huey Ying, JLL’s head of research and consultancy.

Office occupiers are making a list that now includes green standards they want ticked. Louis Lim, chief executive officer for Keppel’s real estate division, said: “To meet their ESG goals, many companies are looking out for sustainability features as a minimum requirement when searching for new offices, and are also prioritising resource usage, including energy and waste reduction.”