Highlights and Lessons Learnt

HIGHLIGHTS

PRUPIM's Sustainable Development Framework was launched, which aims to promote increased understanding of sustainability issues through informed debate amongst design and construction teams.
We reduced our CO₂ emissions (kgCO₂/m²) from Shopping Centres and Managed Offices by 14% compared to the 2006 baseline. This means that we have succeeded in achieving our 2012 emissions reduction target four years ahead of schedule.
The emission of 55,000 tonnes of CO₂ was averted following the continuing purchase of green electricity across a large number of our Managed Properties. The procurement of a green electricity contract remains a key driver in PRUPIM's efforts to reduce our environmental footprint.
Our consumption and management of water also saw some significant improvements as Managed Offices achieved a 10% improvement in water efficiency (per m²) compared to 2006. This indicates that we are working towards systematic continuous improvement in this aspect of resource management.
There is evidence of growing satisfaction amongst our staff and they continue to feel positive about the business benefits of our involvement in community and environmental activities - demonstrated by improved scores in the “Shaping Our Future” survey.
There was a 49% increase in staff training and development investment.

Whilst we have witnessed impressive environmental efficiency improvements in some areas, water efficiency at our Shopping Centres deteriorated over the year, compared to 2006. We are conscious of our commitment to improve our performance in all areas and will continue to work to deliver environmental improvements in the way that we use natural resources.
The absolute value of community investment has fallen over the past year, in part a reflection of our renewed focus on strategic national projects. It will be important to ensure that this reallocation of funding does not detract from the excellent community work that already takes place at PRUPIM Shopping Centres.
Recycling rates at both Shopping Centres and Managed Offices fell in 2007. This partly reflects the challenging and unpredictable nature of measuring and targeting waste recycling performance. However, we acknowledge the scale of this task, particularly in respect of Shopping Centres where we have committed to achieve a 40% waste recycling rate. In order to deliver against this target we have appointed a new national waste contractor at our Shopping Centres to assist us in increasing recycling rates.