Susan Gibbons
Case Western Reserve University - Weatherhead School of Management
David Cooperrider
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The JLL (Jones, Lang, Lasalle) Energy and Sustainability Services (ESS) Group provides energy management and sustainability services to their commercial real estate clients across the globe. The service helps clients create economically efficient and environmentally friendly properties by reducing energy costs, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, and waste to landfills. According to JLL, the ESS group has saved its clients $3.2 billion since the program's start in 2007.
According to Colin Dyer, President, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Sustainability Sponsor: "We understand that sustainability can and should impact all aspects of our organization, whether it's our people, our bottom line, or our relationship with the communities in which we operate. Sustainability is a driver for improved performance, allowing us to extend better service offerings to our clients, better value to our shareholders, and better career opportunities to our employees. It is this understanding that informs our commitment to maintain and improve our role as a responsible corporate citizen.”
The JLL ESS Group has over 120 specialists worldwide helping clients reduce their environmental footprint by utilizing smart building technology, alternative energy options, strategic waste disposal, and energy portfolio management.
The service not only enables companies to monitor, measure and significantly reduce greenhouse gases, it also strengthens the client’s bottom line by saving them money.
Providing Energy and Sustainability Services is both good for JLL clients and good business for JLL.
The creation of JLL's Energy and Sustainability Services Group was inspired by clients asking for support in energy efficiency and sustainability. JLL CFO and COO, Lauralee Martin, seized the opportunity and was the internal champion that drove the process forward.
In 2007 she chose three people to put together a program: Dan Probst (JLL Manager), John Shinter (energy expert), and Diane Vrkic (consultant). Martin said, “this is happening, this is good business, we are doing this!” JLL's ESS Group is still going strong today.
Executive Vice President and Director of JLL Energy and Sustainability Services, Bob Best, says the service "contributes to our relationship with current clients and gets us in the door with new clients. Our clients are very impressed with what we do as a company in terms of our commitment to sustainability and our effort to reduce our environmental footprint."
The Portfolio Energy and Environment Reporting System (PEERS) measures energy data and information for JLL and their clients. PEERS data shows both energy cost savings and greenhouse gas reductions. Over five thousand buildings managed by JLL are in the ENERGY STAR program.
“ESS group is very much a part of how we now define JLL. The ESS services group has had a big impact on our business.” Bob Best, Executive Vice President and Director of JLL Energy and Sustainability Services.
In 2015, JLL's global ESS group generated a total of $21.8 million in revenue for 467 clients.
Using 2007 as a base year, the ESS group has saved clients $3.2 billion in cumulative energy reductions.
The Energy and Sustainability Services Group makes money by providing clients with services that include:
The Portfolio Energy Management software platform and service is the single most important revenue stream. For every dollar spent, the platform returns five dollars in energy savings.
A by-product of a profitable business is that it contributes significantly to the health and vitality of the communities that the employees live and work in.
Using 2007 as a base year, the ESS group has saved $3.2 billion in energy costs and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 12 million metric tons.
In 2014, US clients alone saved 287 thousand metric tons of CO2, an estimated energy savings of $47 million.
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Bob Best, Executive Vice President and Director of JLL Energy and Sustainability Services
