This was in response to a strong need for such measures expressed by real estate managers in South Africa, which resulted in eight major corporate occupiers partnering with IPD to establish this initiative. The companies involved are Discovery Health, Transnet Freight Rail, ABSA Bank, Standard Bank, First National Bank, ABN AMRO, BP and Hollard Insurance.
The service provides a facilities measurement framework and tracks corporate real estate efficiency and productivity performance according to a set of international standards entitled ‘GEMS’ or ‘Global Estate Measurement Standards’. These GEMS comprise three codes, namely the IPD International Total Occupancy Cost Code (costs definitions); the IPD Environmental Code (environmental measures) and the soon to be released, IPD Space Code (floor space standards).
Stan Garrun, Managing Director of IPD South Africa says: “This is a groundbreaking development for corporate occupiers in South Africa. It utilises international best practice and technology to give real estate and facilities managers crucial information to assist them in improving property performance within their organisations.”
The main objective of the initiative has been to provide a structured framework for the calculation of efficiency and effectiveness indicators for properties. The outputs provide key measures describing the interaction of costs, space and people as well as environment effects, for buildings relative to a benchmark. Outputs at building level identify the differences between individual company performance and industry and peer group results. IPD’s suite of measurement tools, benchmarks and market intelligence helps to provide a balanced view of property for occupiers to optimise their use of space and measure their carbon footprint and the environmental impact of their estates.
The programme includes both efficiency and effectiveness modules covering cost measurement, workspace productivity, building operability and environmental sustainability. Data is collected on a confidential and like-for-like basis, pooled in the database and results are presented to participants in validated state of the art reports.
In January 2008 IPD Occupiers launched their ‘Global 500’ programme, which is a platform for international companies to compare real estate assets globally. By Dec- 2008 property data will have been gathered on key cities such as London, Paris, New York, Frankfurt, Dubai, and Hong Kong. This is now being extended to include Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria, Durban and other key centres in South Africa.