Sustainable management - How digital solutions in real estate operations contribute to climate protection and sustainability

The real estate industry is gradually being held accountable by climate protection policy - and rightly so, since around one third of CO2 emissions are currently building-related. Climate protection targets are being incorporated into the strategies of real estate companies via certification schemes and taxonomies. They are expressed in requirements for new buildings, for example, with regard to the materials used, insulation materials and efficient building and construction technology, or in renovation via reduction paths.

But digital solutions for use in real estate operations can also make a property more sustainable. Customers often ask us what contributions to sustainability a tenant platform can make. That's why we summarize the most important contributions here.

Finding sustainable solutions on the ecological, social and economic level

Real estate companies, can create value with a tenant platform on all sides in the classic sustainability triangle of ecology, social and economy and have corresponding contributions credited in classic certification schemes such as GRESB. This creates direct added value for the owners, but also for the tenants and for the managers.

1. Ecological aspects of a tenant platform

From an ecological perspective, tenant platforms first contribute to lower resource consumption by digitizing paper-based processes. Even if these seem to be marginal contributions at first glance, they add up in a portfolio. But it seems much more important that seamless digital processes also lead to quality gains and time savings. Things that take a long time and are poorly coordinated automatically tend to waste more resources. For example, at Allthings we were able to show that communication between tenants and craftsmen can be organized 50% more efficiently through a digital platform, and correspondingly fewer miscoordination or empty runs were booked for repairs.

In addition, modular smart home and smart building applications lead to both more targeted resource consumption and increased consumption awareness, e.g. via visualization and comparison of energy data. As a result, users of buildings can be made ecologically and economically sensible suggestions for a more sustainable use of the building and these can be implemented pragmatically in a second step.

2. Social sustainability is also promoted through a tenant platform.

Tenant platforms also contribute to social sustainability when it comes to integrating different stakeholder groups and structuring feedback processes. This is especially true in new construction neighborhoods, where tenant applications can counteract anonymity and ghettoization, for example, through their social functions. But tenant apps also contribute to social sustainability in existing buildings: In many tenant apps, tenants offer neighborhood services directly to other tenants. This was particularly noticeable during the Corona lockdowns and was reflected in a factor of 2.5x higher usage.

3. Economical use of resources is also good for the wallet

Finally, from an economic perspective, sharing economy functions contribute to increased sustainability. This starts with rental offers among tenants, continues with local marketplaces in buildings and neighborhoods, and ends with integrated sharing offers for electric vehicles or shared motor vehicles.

Are you interested in how you can contribute to your company's sustainability strategy by using a tenant app? Feel free to get in touch with us.