Volume 12 (2022-23)

Each volume of Corporate Real Estate Journal consists of four 100-page issues published in both print and online.

The articles published in Volume 12 are listed below.

Volume 12 Number 4

Editorial:
Simon Beckett, Publisher
Practice papers
Tactical approaches to achieving net zero carbon buildings
Andre Marino, Senior Vice President, Digital Buildings, Schneider Electric

The built environment contributes 37 per cent of global CO2 emissions, with almost half of this coming from energy used in buildings. How can all buildings, both old and new, become more sustainable and achieve net zero status? It takes the right technology and solutions, but also a fundamental understanding of what carbon emissions are and what they mean for the built environment. This paper defines the types of carbon, explores the difference between net zero carbon and zero carbon, and breaks down specific steps on how to strategise, digitise and measure the decarbonisation of a building.
Keywords: net zero buildings; zero carbon buildings; decarbonisation; digital solutions; buildings of the future; how to decarbonise a building
Successful asset data collection and management programmes in corporate real estate
Nathanael Benton, Managing Director, Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) Solutions and Josh McCullough, Program Manager, Partner Engineering & Science, Inc.

The benefits of implementing an asset data collection and management (ADCM) programme for an individual site or portfolio are numerous. ADCM can support capital planning exercises, facility condition indexing (FCI) of a portfolio, operation and maintenance (O&M) procedure development, populating a computerised maintenance management system (CMMS) or environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. The relevance and accuracy of such initiatives are dependent upon the quality of the supporting data. In corporate real estate (CRE), too many organisations struggle to capture the necessary data to successfully implement proactive management strategies, leverage economies of scale and improve reporting to investors and government entities. An organisation cannot capitalise on the benefits of data-driven management platform (CMMS/IWMS) without consistent, reliable and accurate data. This paper explores how quality ADCM can streamline maintenance and capital planning, reduce spending and support business objectives.
Keywords: corporate real estate; asset data collection; asset management; data analytics; capital planning; computerised maintenance management system (CMMS); integrated workplace management system (IWMS)
Managing real estate risk with environmental due diligence: Transaction strategies for environmentally impacted properties
Tyson Fulmer, Senior Environmental Geologist, Catalyst Environmental Solutions

Transacting on environmentally impacted properties provides a unique investment opportunity in the real estate market. Environmental risks need to be evaluated and quantified to take advantage of investment opportunities and manage liabilities. This paper provides an overview of the environmental due diligence process, outlines strategies for transacting environmentally impacted properties, and discusses the risks associated with various due diligence approaches and types of contaminated properties.
Keywords: due diligence; Phase I ESA; risk quantification; environmental transaction strategies; contaminated properties
Reaching the unreachable workforce: Adopting a mobile-first communication strategy to retain employees
David Hogland, President and Andrea Rossitter, Senior Director of Marketing, ESFM

Ineffective communications cost companies more than just safety and productivity issues; they are a direct cause of turnover. While corporate leaders feel their communications are relevant and the way they are delivered is effective, research shows their employees do not feel the same way. In a tight labour market, businesses cannot afford to overlook this fact. As an integrated facilities management (IFM) company that distinguishes itself in self-performing more than 80 per cent of the hard and soft services it provides clients, ESFM depends on an engaged workforce to deliver on its client promises every day. As noted in its bi-annual employee engagement survey, the company recognised its internal communications were missing the mark with respect to hourly employees. Deskless workers, spread across the country and covering multiple shifts, were challenging to connect with. To address these challenges, ESFM inverted the traditional top-down communication cascade as the first IFM company to leverage the Nudge app, originally designed for retail workers, to implement a mobile-first communication strategy for frontline personnel. Adapting the app’s capabilities for the FM space was a process, but ultimately empowered ESFM to digitise critical learnings and best practices to efficiently equip its employees with the knowledge and tools necessary to execute on their clients’ highest priorities. Business outcomes following the first year of implementing this communications approach earned ESFM the George Graves Award for Facility Management Achievement from the International Facilities Management Association (IFMA) in 2020. This paper shares business outcomes from this award-winning communications programme, as well as steps any company can apply on their journey toward developing a more intentional, engaging and effective communications strategy.
Keywords: retention; employee engagement; strategic communications; corporate culture; internal communication; organisational communication; mobile applications; facilities management
Seizing an opportunity: Reimagining a corporate campus during the pandemic
Julie Maggos, Senior Director of Experiential Design and Principal, Stephanie Schmitz, Project Director and Principal and Sarah Bird, Senior Strategist and Associate, IA Interior Architects

Financial services company Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA) retained IA Interior Architects to renovate and modernise its Charlotte, North Carolina campus — a 92-acre site encompassing six office buildings, various parking facilities and nearly 1mft2 of interior space. The timing was noteworthy: IA was hired in late 2019 and presented the final strategy report to the client in March 2020 — just days before the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. That meant having to revisit the already completed workplace strategy and conceptual plan and adjust them for a new, and very uncertain, reality. In addition to redesigning the layout and workstation configuration for social distancing protocols, the client, which had just ended a work-from-home programme rolled out a few years previously, needed to rethink its goal of bringing all 5,000 employee-associates back to campus five days a week. Pivoting again, the team had to contemplate what a new hybrid policy would look like and determine how the design and messaging could best support it. Pandemic aside, many clients face similar situations when embarking on large-scale multiyear projects in a volatile economy, or simply when business needs shift midway through a facility redesign. Additionally, many design strategies employed and challenges solved at TIAA are relevant to other organisations: accommodating changing headcounts; enticing hybrid and remote employees to the office; enabling movement and work-setting choice throughout the day; creating collaboration and small-group gathering spaces; bringing cohesion to a large campus; and future-proofing a facility to answer current work needs while artfully anticipating future ones.
Keywords: hybrid work; employee experience; campus renovation; workplace strategy; experiential design; employee wellness; workplace amenities; flexible; campus; redesign
A multidisciplinary approach to decarbonisation pathways for commercial stranded assets in the UK
Abigail Beaney, Architectural Manager, Aleksandra Przydrozna, Associate Director, Rachel O’Donnell, Operations Director and Omar Addis-Elyassir, Design Management Assistant Manager, Net Zero Carbon Team, Mace Consult

To meet 2050 net zero targets, 65 per cent of existing commercial buildings will need to be electrified by 2030. Legislation and performance targets at present remain conflicting with no one clear path being promoted. The paper uses an ‘in-flight’ example project to considers how retrofit projects could be approached from the outset, reflecting on contractual models, performance targets, societal and sustainability challenges around adapting our existing building stock. The purpose of the paper is to assist investors, insurers, owners, occupiers and advisers in understanding the potential decarbonisation pathways for their assets and to clarify how a project should be approached to benefit the asset and environment in the short and long term. Interdependencies are discussed to highlight the multidisciplinary nature of retrofit and how a holistic and direct approach from the outset is likely to achieve best outcomes where the building’s envelope, heating and ventilation are designed to work in tandem with each other.
Keywords: retrofit; decarbonisation; stranded assets; commercial assets; CRREM; LETI
A paradigm shift in efficiency and service for commercial buildings
Maya Setchkova, Managing Director/Global Senior Account Director at Cushman & Wakefield

Best-in-class facilities management (FM) is all about high-quality service at a speed faster than ever before. This paper uses case studies to examine in detail the following technologies: indoor mapping and asset tracking, digital kiosks, hotelling and workspace surveying, elevator maintenance auditing, water leak detection, NanoSeptic button covers, 3D virtual tours of buildings, artificial intelligence (AI) for preventive maintenance, emergency light testing, construction management platform, lease abstracting data and analytics and autonomous vacuum systems. Each case study provides a description of the technology, the scope of implementation and the results of each endeavour. The reader will understand ten new technologies and be able to navigate the implementation details to set themselves up for the best chance to succeed.
Keywords: PropTech; corporate real estate; innovation; efficiency; cost savings; data analytics
The Copernican office: The rise of the activity based working paradigm
Drew Jones, Founding Partner, OpenWork Agency

This paper frames the post-COVID-19 transformation of work and workplace within Thomas Kuhn’s foundational model of paradigm transformation. The paper suggests that a shift in the workplace paradigm was well underway prior to the pandemic, and that the pandemic represents the ‘model crisis’ phase of Kuhn’s framework. More specifically, the paper argues that the next paradigm, or organising principle, of corporate officing will embody many of the user-experience (UX) characteristics of activity-based working (ABW). That is, it is proposed that workplace design and strategy will centre increasingly on employee experience, which will present challenges for the institutional imperatives of other stakeholders. The paper suggests that at the heart of the renegotiation of ‘what the office is’ and how it is experienced is an emerging social contract of work. The rise of the ABW paradigm will also present significant challenges to managers of tenant organisations, but in the long term the shrinkage of office footprints, reduction of costs and increase in space efficiency will be supported by management.
Keywords: paradigms; transformation; activity-based working (ABW); management; social contract

Volume 12 Number 3

Editorial:
Simon Beckett, Publisher
Practice papers
The ESG challenge for real estate
Erik Jaspers, Director of Global Product Strategy and Innovation and Peter Ankerstjerne, Chief Strategy Officer and Board Member, Planon

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives and related emerging regulations will have an impact on real estate business and the information management requirements around it. This paper describes the fundamental impact of ESG in terms of what real estate professionals will be required to set forward in view of future regulatory compliance. Regulations under construction today by various regulatory organisations are discussed, as are some views on the upcoming ESG-related accounting principles. In addition, the paper provides views on how to address the challenge of improving building portfolio performance over its life cycle in view of its ecological footprint.
Keywords: ESG, compliance, sustainability, regulations, governance, eco-accounting
Creating a smart building strategy
Jeff Ewing, Vice President Security Operations, Russ Farr, Director of Cyber Security Engineering and Wade Hughes, Managing Partner, 5Q

With Internet of Things (IoT) now in the forefront of building construction and operation as well as plans to get people back into buildings post-COVID-19, it is more important than ever to ensure your cyber security strategy is able to keep up with advancements and protect your tenants and your assets. This paper will explain the cyber security risks inherent in a smart building and what you can do to address those risks from the very beginning with a well-designed strategy in line with the construction of a smart building or the retrofit of an existing building to be ‘smart’. You will understand not only the importance of a cyber smart strategy but also the overall approach and specific steps and components required to develop the strategy.
Keywords: cyber security, smart building, cyber strategy, intelligent buildings, building vulnerability, building strategy, operational technology
Building the future of Library and Archives Canada: Assessing readiness for transformational projects
Scott Hamilton, Director General Real Property, Library and Archives Canada, Katharine Cornfield, President, Change Group and Samantha Rao, Real Property Advisor, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

As Canada’s pre-eminent memory institution, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has the legislative mandate to collect, preserve and make accessible Canada’s priceless documentary heritage. This unique role as public caretaker for a vital, ever-growing collection brings considerable challenges to LAC as a corporate real estate (CRE) organisation. Added to this complexity is LAC’s relatively recent assignment as custodian of its own portfolio of special purpose real property, which represents a fundamental change to the institution’s role and responsibilities. Transfer of custody, which coincided with commencement of two of the Government of Canada’s most innovative major capital construction projects, has touched off a period of significant transformation within LAC. This paper will provide important background and context with respect to LAC’s unique mandate, history and evolution as a federal real property custodian; elaborate on the complexity of CRE management in this context; detail the two major projects; and highlight the guiding principles driving delivery through this transformative time. Lastly, this paper will offer actionable insights for others contemplating organisational readiness to undertake high-profile capital projects.
Keywords: organisational readiness; real property portfolio management; capital project; governance; public sector CRE management; sustainability
UniCredit workplace transformation 2.0: Embracing the ‘new normal’
Giovanni Bevilacqua, Group Real Estate — GRE ESG, Marina Figoli, Group Real Estate — Head of GRE ESG and Klaus Sandbiller, Group Real Estate — GRE ESG, Innovation Projects & Monitoring, UniCredit

UniCredit was an early mover in the financial industry, introducing activity-based working at scale aiming for both cost-efficient property solutions and the introduction of new ways of working, with a particular focus on collaboration and well-being. This paper highlights how UniCredit is expanding this concept further for the post pandemic era with the aim of creating a truly hybrid workplace, blending physical and digital space, turning corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments into action and improving the employee experience. Case studies and pilots have demonstrated how large corporate organisations in the financial services industry and beyond could transform their real estate portfolio and the workplace to embrace the ‘new normal’, reconciling the ESG-driven objectives of sustainability, resilience and improved employee experience with cost efficiency.
Keywords: hybrid workplace; future office; employee experience; ESG
Navigating uncertainty: Strategies for effective medical office asset management amid economic headwinds
Jennifer Seiler, Managing Director, Cushman & Wakefield

Pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions along with inflationary pressure on both operating and construction expenses have created new challenges for medical office asset and property managers, whose assets must remain operational in order to provide care to patients. This paper explores strategies and approaches designed to mitigate both risks and costs for building owners, their healthcare tenants and prospective tenants as they navigate these pressures and maintain their assets. The paper offers best practices focused on bidding and managing building services, mitigating risk of supply chain bottlenecks for critical building system repairs and commonly used consumables, adapting leasing strategies to address rising construction costs and scheduling delays, and communicating effectively with all asset stakeholders as they navigate these challenges and continue to deliver healthcare services.
Keywords: medical office, supply chain, inflation, asset management, property management
Integration of building science and data science to de-risk an affordable strategy for building decarbonisation
Donald L. Walker, Partner, Newcomb and Boyd and Craig E. Stevenson, President, AUROS Group

The tools and technology today enable building owners to achieve very low energy consumption and healthy building performance without spending a premium in construction costs. Unacceptable levels of carbon emission, fuel poverty, inequitable indoor air quality, pandemics, and poor outdoor air quality demand that we change the way we look at buildings. Irrespective of motivation, high-performance buildings are rapidly becoming table stakes in the discussion of sustainability or sustainable development. Experienced building owners have determined that aligning the financial, social and environmental goals of sustainable buildings is best achieved by integrating building science and data science, using key components of the data infrastructure that are outlined in this paper. New buildings are easier than existing buildings to address, because envelope-first design strategies can be utilised to deliver high performance and legacy operational technology systems do not have to be mitigated. Existing buildings remain the challenge for most developers and building owners. The decarbonisation strategy outlined in this paper has been proven to cost-effectively address the contemporary demands on new and existing buildings.
Keywords: building science, data science, sustainability, building decarbonisation, zero carbon, smart building infrastructure, operational technology, independent data layer
The post-pandemic workplace across specialised knowledge in-person (SKIP) organisations
Swapna Sathyan, Principal, Director of Consulting, and Christopher Lambert, Senior Vice President, Strategy Consulting, Blue Cottage of CannonDesign, Allison P. Wilson-Maher, Vice President, Real Estate, Design and Construction and Derek Tasch, Health System Architect, Real Estate, Design and Construction, Penn Medicine

The remote/hybrid work environment remains a central topic considering an evolving workforce desiring more autonomy and COVID-19’s acceleration of workplace culture and expectations. This paper examines the adoption of remote work inside organisations within industry sectors in which in-person on-site work plays an important role for teams with specialised, skilled labour. Organisations within these specialised knowledge in-person (or SKIP) sectors face specific challenges in catering to the extremities in the hybrid spectrum, from primarily on-site to primarily remote and in adapting to an increase in remote work in the near and long term. Synthesising insights from decades of consulting experience shaping the future of work, in-depth analysis of data from multiple sources and current research, this paper highlights the case for change and illustrates the efforts at a leading academic medical centre to transition the organisation to the future of work.
Keywords: future of work; workplace transformation; workplace strategy; master planning; hybrid work; culture; workplace experience
The state of ESG investing in Canada’s commercial real estate market: Opportunities and risks
Ali Hoss, Vice President, Innovation and Sustainability and Luigi Luppi, Vice President of Investor Relations, Triovest

In recent years, sustainability and resilience have become a priority for commercial real estate investors. The brown discount for unsustainable buildings has gradually become larger than ‘green premiums’ we see today for buildings leading on sustainability and resiliency. Financial market participants are increasingly under pressure from stakeholders to emphasise environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in the investment decision criteria. The development of resilient assets, regulatory pressure and customer preference are compelling many investors to integrate ESG into the way they conduct business; however, putting strategy and action behind the work and finding a suitable market for ESG investments is no easy task. Across all real estate sectors, people are looking for truly sustainable assets and products. Real estate owners must consider what that means for tenants, investors and other stakeholders. Canada is emerging as a leader in a marketplace where investors are increasingly focused on ESG and are increasingly willing to divest from companies for not taking significant ESG action. In this paper, we discuss reasons presenting a compelling investment thesis for commercial real estate investors in Canada, including ESG-friendly regulations, population growth, market opportunities, demographic diversity, access to clean electricity and market stability. Moreover, it is discussed that investors require to overcome the data and technology selection barriers to measure, monitor and manage progress toward net-zero operation.
Keywords: Canada, commercial real estate, ESG, investment, net zero carbon, population growth, electricity, regulation, sustainability, GHG emissions

Volume 12 Number 2

Editorial:
Simon Beckett, Publisher
Practice papers
Starting with purpose: How a people-first strategy can support real estate decisions
Melony Bethala, Managing Director, Workplace Strategy and Human Experience and Roy Abernathy, Global Strategy and Consulting Lead, Newmark

This paper reflects real-time client experiences, outlines challenges and opportunities that organisations are facing as the world emerges into a new normal and provides a lens for a people first strategy that supports real estate decisions and walks through industry-specific considerations. The Newmark Workplace Strategy and Human Experience team believes that starting with purpose and focusing first on how employees experience and are impacted by the workplace will drive organisational success through periods of uncertainty.
Keywords: workplace strategy, future of work, new normal, workplace after COVID-19, employee behaviours, real estate decision making
Using data-driven design to create a flexible and adaptable real estate portfolio while enhancing your employee experience
Cristiano Testi, Principal Director and Georgina Reissing, Workplace Consultant, tp bennett

Using data-driven design can provide space for innovation and collaboration across the workplace, but without consulting the people who use the space and understanding their insight around their ways of working, the data can only take us so far. As Jay Baer said, ‘We are surrounded by data, but starved for insights’. These insights can drive designs forward, creating a flexible and adaptable workspace. Post-COVID-19, flexible and adaptable space has become paramount to organisations, allowing them to flex in headcount daily, adapt to unforeseen events such as sudden growth, and attract and retain top talent from further afield. It can also enhance the employee experience by offering various work settings.
Keywords: data-driven design, employee experience
The role of commercial real estate in shaping our carbon future
Lisa Conway, VP of Sustainability — Americas and Jon Khoo, Head of Sustainability — EAAA, Interface

The urgency of the ongoing climate crisis requires swift action from all industries. This includes commercial real estate as the building industry is responsible for nearly 39 per cent of annual global energy-related carbon emissions. It is critical that the real estate sector focuses on reducing both operational and embodied carbon emissions to effectively decarbonise our built spaces. This paper discusses the role that the commercial real estate sector plays in reversing global warming and the resources, tools and organisations already available for companies and individuals looking to begin to reduce their carbon footprint. It also details the two types of carbon emitted by our buildings and the importance of focusing on embodied carbon for substantial change. Readers will walk away with actionable steps they can take to lower the carbon footprint of commercial real estate.
Keywords: climate change, carbon emissions, building life cycle, net zero, embodied carbon, carbon reduction, wellness
The great upgrade: Why human performance metrics will drive the future of the workplace
Kate Davis, Global Practice Director, Elizabeth Fallon, Architect and Casey Lindberg, Senior Design Researcher, HKS Architects

As we redefine the workplace in the post-COVID-19 era, one question looms large: how should we measure success? This paper offers an overview of the changing work landscape and discuss why the metrics we used to assess workplace performance yesterday will not work today — or tomorrow. Instead, the paper offers advice on how to devise workplace performance metrics that better align with business goals and employee engagement. In doing so it considers why we should lean into the current disruption of workplace metrics to reconsider long held standards of measurement for workplace efficiency, compares effectiveness between traditional and new measures focused on effectiveness and efficiency of hybrid workplaces and defines how new metrics offer opportunities to activate any organisation’s single biggest investment — its talent.
Keywords: workplace, metrics, effectiveness, measures, benchmarks, hybrid
Designing for an adaptable future
Maren Reepmeyer, Director of Adaptive Design, CBT Architects

In a world that has been turned on its head, how do architects and designers — those that shape our environments and influence our spatial experiences — respond and adapt in meaningful ways? This paper explores five fundamental perspectives to adopt, which when combined, create a solid framework that can shape a more adaptable future for a commercial property. Does your space function, perform and promote? Can you infuse flexibility into your property that will allow it to transcend market cycles? This paper presents an approach to methodically, yet innovatively, create environments that respond to changing benchmarks, while proposing a series of relatable, real-world project examples.
Keywords: architecture, placemaking, commercial real estate, adaptive reuse, repositioning, design fundamentals, resiliency, sustainability, future-forward, flexibility, workplace, city planning, post-pandemic, perpetual pandemic
The power of presence: Re-establishing collaboration and innovation amidst a virtual revolution
Meghan Tooman, Vice President of Operations, DORIS

Two research studies were conducted to identify the implications of working remotely, in a physical office and hybrid on five business drivers, namely: productivity, collaboration, strategy, creativity and innovation. These five factors were repeatedly discussed in articles as being affected greatly (some positively, some negatively) by working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Engaging over 150 people from 29 different organisations, DORIS (Design Oriented Research for Impactful Solutions) found the aforementioned business drivers are, in fact, a system where each affects the other, and that no one factor functions independently of the others. What does this mean for hybrid working? Well, the simple fact is that it is harder than it sounds, and a hybrid work model built without intentionality toward people is one that is bound to fail due to widespread lack of efficiency and individual burnout. It is widely understood that many organisations intend to implement a hybrid approach moving forward. The key to successful implementation will be intentionality and communication behind decisions, which will increase certainty and confidence for everyone in an uncertain time.
Keywords: hybrid workplace, workplace strategy, productivity, psychological safety, future, collaboration, innovation
Developing the return on workplace investment (ROWI) tool
Nigel Oseland, Director, Workplace Unlimited, Matthew Tucker, Professor and Hannah Wilson, Senior Lecturer, Liverpool John Moores University

Facilities managers and the wider corporate real estate (CRE) community have increasingly become focused on cost reduction, with organisations typically viewing property as a cost burden rather than an investment. Consequently, it remains rare for organisations to include performance benefits in financial investment appraisals of workplace projects. A change in narrative is required to one where value can be demonstrated rather than simply costs reduced. Previous attempts have been made to quantify workplace performance, but a tangible tool to assist in recommending major decisions regarding changes to the workplace has eluded discovery. Therefore, the authors joined forces with the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM) to create the Return on Workplace Investment (ROWI) tool. The ROWI tool is a ready reckoner for calculating the impact of workplace projects (including planning, design or operation) on people performance. It can be used as part of a cost-benefit analysis to help professionals build a business case which accounts for positive factors other than cost alone. The initial step to developing the ROWI tool was to conduct an extensive literature review to determine the performance metrics that could be used to calculate a return on workplace investment. Some 105 unique and robust literature sources, with a total of 194 individual assessments of performance, were selected. Five dominant and recurring performance metrics were identified, along with nine recurring broad workplace design elements affecting task performance. Previously, there was little confidence in productivity research due to the range in performance data that various studies produce. A unique aspect of the ROWI tool, however, is that the performance data for each study was weighted to make it more relevant to real office work. The corresponding, more realistic, potential impact of workplace design on each of the performance metrics was calculated using the weighted results from all the research studies.
Keywords: productivity, performance, office, workplace

Volume 12 Number 1

Editorial:
Simon Beckett, Publisher
Practice papers
Unlocking the next wave of value in corporate real estate
Harry Morphakis, Senior Manager and Michael Przytula, Managing Director and Global Lead, Accenture

As real estate providers seek to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on their tenants’ businesses — and, by association, their own — a serious question has to be asked: to drive the next wave of value, will the new normal require a change in the landlord–tenant relationship? This paper argues that the answer is yes. It requires a change from the legacy real estate mindset of cost control and reducing expenditure per square foot, to one of increasing value per square foot. Landlords can make use of a number of critical technologies to pave the way to this next wave of value creation across their portfolios: the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G and digital tenant services. This paper explores the use of these technologies, their benefits, what is required to precipitate a change in the relationship with tenants and how this will shape future operating models.
Keywords: IoT, 5G, smart buildings, digital tenant
How technology is advancing capital planning
Derek Blackmore, President, AkitaBox

This paper examines the shortcomings of current capital planning methods, most notably the facilities condition assessment (FCA). The FCA as we know it today does not provide the data and other deliverables needed for effective capital planning; however, new technologies are changing that. This paper describes key ways technology is already and will continue to accentuate the FCA and capital planning processes.
Keywords: capital planning, facilities condition assessment, digital twin, capital planning platform, CMMS
Aligning experience data to return-to-office investments
Despina Katsikakis, Global Lead Total Workplace and Bryan Berthold, Global Lead Workplace Experience, Cushman & Wakefield, and Kent Taylor, Global Director — Workplace, Technology, Design and Integrated Solutions, IBM

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the future of work was centred around business results driven by productivity and innovation. Today, after more than two years of navigating a new workplace ecosystem of office, remote and third places, we are learning that the future of work is all those things — but at the very centre are the people who have developed new ideas about what work means to them and what they want from their employers. While they want to be productive and innovative, they also want more flexibility, to be inspired, to have better work-life balance and wellbeing and have closer connections to colleagues and the culture. If given the chance to experience the workplace with a deep culture that fosters human connection and provides the inspiration they crave, they will deliver real results. It is an opportunity for corporate real estate (CRE) leaders to rise and partner with every discipline across their organisations, to integrate people, place and technology offerings that align on improving the employee experience. Aligning capital and operational investments requires replacing conjecture and subjectivity with employee data and insight; to lean in, listen to employees and determine what their workforce and workplace needs are to stay engaged and inspired.
Keywords: employee engagement, workplace experience, return-to-office strategies, workplace design, flexibility, work-life balance, well-being
The return on investment of tenant engagement
Phyllis Horner, CEO and Manfred Zapka, COO, Great Places and Spaces

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for corporate real estate (CRE) to rethink some long-held assumptions on how to avert higher vacancy rates and create value by investing in more attractive spaces. The key to good CRE performance is the ability to attract high-quality tenants, charge premium lease rent fees and avoid lease revisions or cancellations. Since the pandemic, the rules of lease retention have faced significant challenges. In an unexpected turnabout, the lessee is much more powerful in the transaction than in the past. The era where building owners, leasing agents and property managers could view leasing of spaces to corporate tenants as a commodity is over. The occupant’s experience is more central to the attractiveness of CRE in this era. Upgrading the mindset and tools for how to optimise the occupant experience requires different approaches for corporate tenants than historically. What tenants expect of the property manager, leasing agent and building owner have all increased significantly. This paper explores the foundations of these raised expectations, why they are unlikely to revert to pre-2020 levels, and provides models and tools to use in rapid improvement of results.
Keywords: healthy buildings, safety, better workplaces, employee retention, ROI
Leveraging technology for strategic workplace decisions
Simon Davis, CEO and Founder and Corinne Murray, Co-Founder and Chief Strategist, Purposeful Intent

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the evolution of our global understanding of people, space and technology. This paper explores the impacts this will have on employees, employers and real estate. Employees will be given more options and choice of how, when and where they work. Employers will be faced with new challenges in the retention and attraction of talent and how to balance real estate needs versus cost (and start considering new metrics of success), and real estate will change in ways never before contemplated. As organisations navigate the journey to whatever is next, technology and data will be key elements in decision making and tracking what is working (and what is not). This will also require new skill sets in interpreting the information and a new focus on the effectiveness of the work environment, whether that is in the office, from home or at a third place.
Keywords: flexibility, future of workplace, workplace data, employee experience
Places to belong: Practical considerations for creating inclusive and impactful places of work
Ryan Anderson, Vice President of Global Research and Insights, Jolene De Jong, Application Design Specialist and Joseph White, Director of Design Strategy, MillerKnoll

This paper is designed to help corporate real estate (CRE) leaders create spaces that improve employee experiences and the impact of their workplace on organisational outcomes. With heightened interest in the role of post-pandemic corporate offices, home workspaces, flex spaces and other environments for supporting and connecting employees, now is an opportune time for CRE leaders to elevate the role of their workplace strategy by focusing on belonging. The paper draws upon years of research and exploration conducted by MillerKnoll brands and our customers. If desired, the foundational elements listed within it can be directly imported into an organisation’s existing workplace strategy while using this paper as a guide and catalyst to help team members, consultants and end users better understand the impact of the workplace in strengthening community, promoting a positive culture, and ensuring equitable opportunities for all employees to succeed.
Keywords: diversity, equity, belonging, inclusive design, hybrid work, workplace strategy
Communities of work: Creating place in the workplace
T. Patrick Donnelly, Partner and Client Leader, BHDP, et al.

As we have all observed, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed our relationship to work and where work happens for the foreseeable future. With this understanding comes the need to reevaluate how we use the workplace and what the workplace means to the people using it. While people have found they do not need the workplace to necessarily do all of their work, they have come to acknowledge that they do miss people and the social interaction and collaboration enabled through physical closeness in a shared place — their community of work. In rethinking the workplace, other design-related fields and areas of scholarship can provide important insights regarding the intersection of people and place in communities, organisations and companies. For instance, it is possible to look to the fields of both urban planning and urban design for insights as to how to structure and sustain communities while creating experiences that support connections, reflect culture and bring people together through shared meaning. Tied to these fields is the practice of community design, which looks to use physical design to truly support and celebrate the sociocultural aspects of communities. Lastly, the theory of place provides an understanding of why the difference between generic space and a community-reflective place is critical to the success of communities. Together, these three lines of thought have helped inform a burgeoning theory of communities of work. Fifth Third Bank’s transformation of its mid-20th-century campus in the heart of downtown Cincinnati serves as an early, real-life example of this theory in action.
Keywords: workplace, community, neighbourhood, culture, identity, place, design