Jessie Shaw, an MSc student in Business and Sustainability, has unveiled transformative research addressing sustainability challenges in the real estate sector. Her Capstone project, Sustainable Efficacies: Analysing the Commercial Impact of Green Certifications on Grade A Office Spaces in the UK, bridges the gap between academic insights and industry practices. Supported by property consultancy Carter Jonas, her findings provide a roadmap for incorporating sustainability into commercial real estate while balancing economic and environmental goals.
At the heart of Jessie’s research lies the analysis of green certifications like BREEAM, WELL, and NABERS. She explores how these standards influence stakeholder decision-making, focusing on overcoming barriers such as regulatory uncertainty, cost concerns, and fragmented sustainability metrics. Her work emphasizes the need for harmonized standards to foster transparency and trust, enabling broader adoption of sustainable practices.
Jessie’s findings identify sustainability as a driver of value, not merely a compliance measure. By addressing misalignments in sustainability frameworks and demonstrating their commercial benefits, her research equips real estate stakeholders with practical tools for embedding sustainability into core strategies.
During a Capstone event on November 14, 2024, Jessie presented her findings alongside a panel of industry experts. The discussion delved into aligning short-term financial objectives with long-term sustainability goals. Jessie highlighted the importance of collaborative efforts among landlords, investors, tenants, and policymakers to accelerate the sector’s transition toward sustainability.
Key takeaways included actionable recommendations for reducing costs, streamlining standards, and fostering intergenerational collaboration. Jessie’s vision for real estate emphasizes education, accountability, and policy reforms to drive meaningful change. Her insights also underscore the significance of engaging diverse perspectives to bridge individual initiatives and industry-wide transformations.
Carter Jonas, as a partner of UCL’s MSc in Business and Sustainability program, played a pivotal role in supporting Jessie’s research. The firm’s access to market data and industry expertise grounded her work in practical realities, ensuring its relevance to real-world challenges. Her findings, featured in an industry report and presented at the event, resonate with key stakeholders, sparking meaningful conversations about sustainability.
Jessie’s journey from academia to industry reflects her passion for the built environment’s potential to drive sustainable change. Building on her background in Urban Planning and Real Estate, her MSc experience honed her ability to align business imperatives with environmental goals. Her research sets a benchmark for operationalizing sustainability within the real estate sector and offers a foundation for further exploration into financial incentives and policy reforms.
By turning academic insights into industry action, Jessie Shaw exemplifies the transformative power of integrating sustainability into business strategies. Her work not only contributes to academic discourse but also provides a blueprint for achieving a balance between profit, purpose, and the planet in commercial real estate.
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