Last week we spoke to Alice Jardine from Stanhope’s ESG team about the importance of
sustainability and how Stanhope plans to navigate the CUBE Competition.
This week we hear from Madeleine Velupillai, ESG Strategy Manager at Savills, who gives us her take on how Savills is supporting Stanhope with their CUBE rollout.
CUBE: What responsibility do you have in the CUBE Competition and how did you come about this role?
"I oversee all of Savills’ managed properties and support the teams with data gathering, processing, tenant engagement and solutions. This role sits naturally with my position in Savills. I am uniquely placed to be able to share best practice between properties and explain pitfalls. I am very happy to support our teams this way and help them and their occupiers get the best out of the CUBE experience."
CUBE: In your own words, what does sustainability mean to you? Why is it something that you are passionate about and how do you see it challenging the way the company does business?
"For me, sustainability is about using resources as efficiently as possible. In doing so and perhaps finding new, innovative ways to do this, providing a great value service for our clients and building occupiers. I’m passionate about it because it gives us a sense of purpose and pleasure when we can achieve best practice or create positive change. It can no longer be business as usual. Our site teams are becoming more aware of the energy their buildings use and how. They are the experts and can identify ways to reduce consumption or make efficiencies."
CUBE: Did you organise a campaign to familiarise occupiers with CUBE at the beginning of the competition?
"Our site team have met with all occupiers individually to explain what the competition is, why we joined it, what we hope to get out of it and what it will mean for them. Bringing our occupiers along with us on our energy-reduction pathway is vital to success."
CUBE: What are the first set of actions that you will prioritise?
"First, we are speaking to all of the occupiers on an individual basis to explain what the competition is, why we joined it and what we hope to get out of it. Most importantly, we’re explaining what the competition will mean for the occupier. Some have previously been more interested in sustainability than others for example, in requesting their energy data.
Once we have all occupiers informed, we’re then discussing ways we can work with them to reduce their energy consumption. We’re taking this discussion to our Green Team meetings. All occupiers are invited to the meeting so that we can work together and share ideas."
CUBE: What obstacles have you encountered since the beginning of the competition?
"Obtaining historic data has been a challenge where metering infrastructure onsite has had issues. It’s left us with holes in data for areas of some properties. We also have a lot of tenants across our properties. Speaking to each about the competition and helping them to understand what it will mean for them has taken time for our site teams but has been well received."
CUBE: How would you describe CUBE in three words?
"Accessible, competitive, positive"