- Sustainable operation and management now governed by contractual provisions
- Green clauses becoming mandatory for internal contracting guidelines
Hamburg, 19. January 2021 – HIH Property Management GmbH (HPM) upgraded its facility management agreement for third-party service providers to include a green section mandating sustainable use and management. Christian Kypke, Member of the Board and responsible for the development of the green facility management agreement, elaborated: “We are effectively integrating third-party service providers into our ESG strategy. With the new contractual model, we are laying the foundation for a comprehensive, sustainable property management. For us, HPM, it represents another important building block on our way to become a property manager with one of the most sustainable performance envelopes in Germany.” Starting immediately, use of the green facility management agreement will be mandatory for contracting third-party services in the areas of technical and infrastructure-related facility management.
Contractors will be contractually obligated to observe the aspects of sustainable use and management when providing their services, and to align their activities to sustainability criteria as much as possible. Client and contractor will agree, inter alia, to keep each other up to date about significant technological advances in sustainable facility management. Kypke said: “We have no intention to freeze our standards and rules. Rather, it is of the essence for us to exploit any potential that the future state-of-the-art in sustainable property management may have to offer. We consider sharing the same learning curve with our partners a boon in the sustainability context.
In analogy to already introduced green lease agreements in the rental sector, the green facility management agreement also regulates the forwarding of information and documents – in this context, most notably consumption data that are necessary to determine the carbon footprint of a given building. “This is a key aspect,” said Kypke,“that helps us create the prerequisites for ESG reporting.” Other topics include the use of environmentally harmless cleaning agents and the use of sustainable building materials, for instance in maintenance and refurbishment works.
“This takes us a big step forward while still leaving our contractors sufficient leeway to adjust to our sustainability standards. Nonetheless, the agreement is unambiguously phrased and instructs the other party to ensure, to the best of its ability, an environmentally friendly and resource-conserving occupancy and management of buildings,” emphasised André Vollbach, Managing Director of HPM. “We seek to achieve our targets in a joint effort, equally addressing the economic, environmental and social aspects.”
“We are effectively integrating third-party service providers into our ESG strategy. With the new contractual model, we are laying the foundation for a comprehensive, sustainable property management. For us, HPM, it represents another important building block on our way to become a property manager with one of the most sustainable performance envelopes in Germany.” “We have no intention to freeze our standards and rules. Rather, it is of the essence for us to exploit any potential that the future state-of-the-art in sustainable property management may have to offer. We consider sharing the same learning curve with our partners a boon in the sustainability context.”
Christian Kypke, Member of the Board
HIH Property Management“This takes us a big step forward while still leaving our contractors sufficient leeway to adjust to our sustainability standards. Nonetheless, the agreement is unambiguously phrased and instructs the other party to ensure, to the best of its ability, an environmentally friendly and resource-conserving occupancy and management of buildings. We seek to achieve our targets in a joint effort, equally addressing the economic, environmental and social aspects.”
André Vollbach, Managing Director
HIH Property Management
