RICS Sustainability Blog

Spring clean your facilities and contribute to standards for greater certainty and consistency in FM processes

Nathalie Bellanger — Fri, 04 May 2012 10:34:00 GMT

According to Jim Sinopoli, managing principal of Smart Buildings, facility management is undergoing a significant process of evolution and transformation. The days when the facilities management (FM) or engineering group was housed in a small office in...(read more)

Tell us your views on how to protect Europe's waters

Nathalie Bellanger — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:44:00 GMT

RICS is calling for members' views on the EU consultation 'Policy Options for the Blueprint to Safeguard Europe's Waters' The European Commission will present its 'Blueprint to Safeguard Europe's Water Resources' this year. This document will assess the...(read more)

Who should drive the sustainability agenda?

Nathalie Bellanger — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:12:00 GMT

Yesterday I attended a debate organised by the ENDS report around "How long can business continue to lead the sustainability agenda?". It was stated from the start that the underlying question was "how sustainability can improve business commercial performance?"....(read more)

Find out about energy infrastructure's business opportunites

Nathalie Bellanger — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:02:00 GMT

The transition to a low-carbon economy and the pressure to create and maintain secure sustainable sources of energy mean that many businesses are suddenly faced with unprecedented challenges and opportunities. This emerging yet highly complex industry...(read more)

RICS takes part in NY University Sustainable Real Estate conference

Nathalie Bellanger — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 09:47:00 GMT

As part of its commitment to supporting initiatives in environmental sustainability, RICS recently sponsored a conference presented by the Center for the Sustainable Built Environment at New York University Schack Institute of Real Estate that focused...(read more)

ClimCare: an RICS student initiative to improve sustainable development in Uganda

Nathalie Bellanger — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 13:11:00 GMT

The ClimCare initiative, coordinated by RICS student member Kaweesi Ronald, has been created against the background of increasing pressures on natural resources in Uganda, and of the need to raise awareness about sustainable practices and environmental...(read more)

Embodied Carbon Measurement – Consultation open

Nathalie Bellanger — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:07:00 GMT

At Ecobuild this year, RICS presented the foundation to a new methodology to measure embodied carbon ( 21st March 2012 “Carbon accounting: measuring the carbon during a building’s life” ). Embodied Carbon is the carbon produced during the design and construction...(read more)

New research enables to future-proof your building assets against climate change!

Nathalie Bellanger — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 11:20:00 GMT

By Gareth Roberts, Director, Sturgis Carbon Profiling LLP The launch of the RICS Non-domestic Real Estate Climate Change Model next Wednesday makes a big leap forwards in quantifying the financial and carbon impacts of climate change across different...(read more)

Why raise energy management standards?

Nathalie Bellanger — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:55:00 GMT

According to Mike Zimmerman, CEO of BuildingIQ, President Obama's Better Buildings Initiative sets quite a few goals for improving energy efficiency in US commercial buildings, which consume over 20 percent of all energy in the United States. By investing...(read more)

International Practice in Participatory Planning forum (launch event on 28 February 2012)

Nathalie Bellanger — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:24:00 GMT

By John Tracey-White, RICS International Sustainable Development Advisor Participatory approaches to planning are now widely promoted as alternatives to traditional top-down planning methods. Early examples of using participatory methods for planning...(read more)

A vision for tomorrow's cities

Nathalie Bellanger — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:09:00 GMT

Today the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released a new report on how local and state governments can stimulate potentially billions of dollars of private investment, to offset the costs of repairing the US' broken stormwater infrastructure....(read more)

RICS Sustainability and the Valuation of Commercial Property (Australia)

Nathalie Bellanger — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:26:00 GMT

By Jillian Carney, RICS Oceania Knowledge Delivery & QLD Manager Following the RICS Sustainability Demystified session on 15 September 2011, which showcased new RICS guidance on how to value sustainability in buildings, we are pleased to announce...(read more)

RICS takes part in City of Sydney’s fight against rising energy bills through major reductions in energy use

Nathalie Bellanger — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:21:00 GMT

A network of Sydney businesses are combating rising energy bills and improving day-to-day workplace operations by going green. As part of the national CitySwitch Green Office program , legal practice Norton Rose Australia and Knight Frank’s property management...(read more)

New research highlights the importance of Chartered Surveyors for residential Solar PV

Nathalie Bellanger — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:44:00 GMT

New Research has highlighted the significant role that surveyors and valuers have to play in forming the attitudes of UK residential mortgage providers towards domestic solar panels, or solar PV. The survey, commissioned by Community Energy Plus, found...(read more)

A hint of green in the Red Book

Nathalie Bellanger — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:09:00 GMT

By Paul Cutbill MRICS, Chairman of the RICS Residential Survey and Valuation Group and responsible for compliance and professional development at Countrywide Surveying Services After several significant hikes in the cost of energy last year, and with...(read more)