Dive Brief:

• Jones Lang LaSalle has launched Decarbonization Strategy, a service designed for commercial real estate owners that provides investment planning insights to help meet carbon reduction goals, according to a press release.
• The service, powered by the company’s Carbon Pathfinder software, provides data that can aid with assessing performance, creating decarbonization action plans and making capital decisions on an individual building level.
• The decarbonization strategy is a piece of JLL’s sustainability suite, which is intended to capture the large audience grappling with ESG reporting, new standards and regulatory compliance.

Dive Insight:

The Decarbonization Strategy and Carbon Pathfinder tools come at a time when many facility leads and commercial owners are being forced to benchmark their buildings and identify areas where they can improve sustainability, increase visibility and meet carbon reduction targets. 

“Sustainability is no longer an option, it's a necessity and in many cases a government mandate," Sharad Rastogi, CEO of JLL Technologies' work dynamics technology group, said in the release. "Making investment decisions is a complex process and calculation. … Carbon Pathfinder allows decision makers to explore various decarbonization scenarios and determine which ones will maximize their sustainability investment— while minimizing their risk. ”

Carbon Pathfinder is one of only a handful of big solutions in the market. Key competitors include Measurabl, which raised $93 million in a series D funding round in May, and Deepki, which raised $166 million last year.  Deepki recently partnered with JLL rival CBRE in a deal that will integrate its platforms at CBRE-managed properties throughout Europe, the Americas and the Pacific. The commercial real estate firm also took a minority stake in the company.

While CBRE and JLL, among the largest real estate service firms in the U.S., are deploying different strategies in terms of prioritizing buying or building their own decarbonization platforms, their recent moves could help quicken the pace of adoption of ESG reporting in commercial real estate. JLL said it has already grown its sustainability services business to over 1,000 subject matter experts. 

“Combining this local technical expertise with unique technology, we can effectively and quickly guide companies through their entire decarbonization pathway," said Guy Grainger, global head of sustainability services & ESG at JLL, in the release. "This offering provides a quick, step-by-step process for organizations to manage risk and unlock value on real estate portfolios across asset classes and geographies."

Although ESG reporting and decarbonization strategies are already hot topics for building owners and operators, the follow-through of these efforts is just beginning, creating large-scale demand for these service offerings. 

In a recent smart tech survey by Toggled, 64% of facility decision-makers were still looking for ways to monitor and analyze their carbon footprint or greenhouse gas emissions in their buildings. 

“Every corporation has got a net-zero goal for 2030, 2040 and 2050. And frankly, most people don't really have a clear plan or clear strategy for how to get there,” said Rastogi in an interview. “There's a lot of data being generated, whether it's from sensors, HVAC equipment, employees, badge data or wireless users, right? The question really is, ‘How do you make that data usable, to make decisions which are critical for organizations?’”