Recent pushback from some US investors has not diminished our resolve to prioritise sustainability because we believe that our approach is delivering a positive return on investment for our shareholders and reinforcing the long-term resilience of our buildings against regulatory and market risks.

As the Head of Sustainability at IPUT, I am proud to share that over the past year, we have met our strategic objectives and achieved several key milestones, in some cases ahead of schedule. Our vertically integrated team ensures that sustainability is at the forefront of our decision-making across all aspects of our operations, from designing and constructing, to managing and operating the buildings within our portfolio. Our goal is to become a net-zero carbon business, bolstering the resilience of our assets and thereby preserving value for our investors over the long term.

Some of our key achievements include:

• Reduced the energy use intensity of our directly managed portfolio by 35% since 2019.
• Increased the portfolio coverage of assets with EPC B or above from 32% to 61% since 2021.
• Supported the installation of onsite photovoltaic (PV) arrays across our portfolio, generating over 1,000,000 kWh per annum.
• Increased the number of LEED-certified assets in our portfolio – by the end of 2025, 83% of our office portfolio will be LEED certified.
• Delivered the first commercial property Article 9 fund in the Irish market with IPUT Nexus Logistics Fund.
• Achieved a 5-star GRESB rating for the third consecutive year.
• Achieved LEED Platinum at our office workplaces at Wilton Park.
• Created lasting positive impacts in communities in which we are invested through our focus on placemaking and social value creation.

2025 is a pivotal year for us to review our progress and reframe our Net Zero 2030 pathway by reevaluating our baselines and targets. This involves considering each building in our portfolio on its own merits and identifying opportunities to enhance their sustainability credentials further. Our experience has shown that integrating sustainable elements into a building’s design at the earliest possible stage leads to better long-term outcomes for both our occupiers and our shareholders.

Inaction is simply not an option. Investing in sustainability is the right thing to do and, in our experience, it is a value driver within our portfolio.

Sustainability continues to be a key driver of investor and occupier decision-making in commercial real estate. There are costs and challenges associated with putting a strategy in place to address the transition risks faced by our industry but not acting will lead to far greater and long-term negative consequences. As an industry, we have a duty to lead in advocating for sustainable practices in the built environment. Inaction is simply not an option. There is a growing body of research with evidence of ‘brown discounts’ and ‘green premiums’ on rents and values. Within our portfolio, we have tangible evidence of the impact of developing sustainably and incorporating high levels of amenities. Sustainability and amenities are essential in delivering return on investment, futureproofing assets against the physical risks of climate change and providing modern, healthy workspaces for our occupiers.

Occupier engagement and collaboration

A key component of our development at 25 North Wall Quay has been ongoing collaboration on sustainability with the occupier, throughout the design, construction and handover process. This is the first net-zero office building in our portfolio, and we will use vital learnings from this project to inform how we continue to transition our portfolio of assets to improve energy efficiency and lower carbon emissions.

The importance of data

Access to high-quality data and metrics is essential for delivering on our sustainability strategy. We have clear targets and metrics under each pillar of our strategy, enabling us to track progress and make informed decisions. Collaboration with our occupiers is crucial to ensure we have access to as much data as possible to make evidence-based decisions for the benefit of our occupiers, investors, and all those directly impacted by our efforts.

What’s next for IPUT’s sustainability journey?

We are midway on our journey to 2030. Having achieved and, in some cases, exceeded the targets set out in our Net Zero Pathway, it is time to reflect on our progress and plan for the next phase of action. Our ambition is to raise the bar even higher, as demonstrated by the commencement of construction on the first phase of our state-of-the-art Nexus Logistics Park which will set a new benchmark for sustainability in the logistics sector. We look forward to developing this scheme, which has received the backing of both European investors and Ireland’s Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF). We will be innovating to create a sustainable logistics park that delivers extremely energy efficient and low carbon buildings in a parkland setting with best-in-class amenities for occupiers and the community.

In 2025, we will continue our systematic approach to delivering on our strategy, focusing on energy efficiency, sustainability, and creating positive economic, environmental, and social impacts. We will also seek opportunities to improve our biodiversity efforts, having conducted a full biodiversity baseline study of our portfolio last year. This baseline data enables us to set strategic and asset specific targets which will help maximise biodiversity gain across the portfolio in the years ahead.

We will continue to innovate with new technologies, materials, and methods to increase efficiencies. Tailoring our approach on a building-by-building basis will further optimise asset performance and maintain our market leadership in sustainability. We now have compelling evidence that developing and operating buildings with excellent sustainability credentials creates desirable workplaces for our occupiers and positively impacts financial performance for our shareholders. These outcomes validate our approach, and we are working hard to prove that our social and placemaking efforts similarly have a positive financial impact and create lasting value for local communities.