Urbanity is the first developer in the ESG rating. Strategy and reporting has been set with Frank Bold

Urbanity Real Estate Group has been ranked as the first real estate company in the ESG Rating announced by the Association for Corporate Social Responsibility. It ranked in the Top 10 in the small and medium-sized business category due to its emphasis on building sustainable manufacturing campuses that use recycled building materials, reduce their energy intensity and rely on renewable energy technologies. The evaluation, in which 135 national companies entered, was based on 22 areas assessed by experts from the Faculty of Business Administration of the University of Economics.

Urbanity has reviewed its direction using the ESG reportu for 2022, which was prepared by experts from Frank Bold Advisory together with the ESG strategy.

The ESG Rating was created in 2022 as a collaborative project of the Corporate Social Responsibility Association and the Faculty of Business Administration of the University of Economics in Prague. The ESG Rating measures selected indicators across the ESG pillars and compares the extent to which national companies monitor and communicate their impact on the environment, society and corporate governance.

"The real estate market accounts for almost 40% of the total annual carbon emissions, of which 70% comes from property operations and 30% from property construction. Improvements in sustainable development are therefore of great importance to society and a challenge for us," said Roland Hofman, co-founder of Urbanity.

"We are all the more pleased that independent experts have reviewed and appreciated our ESG strategy and we have become the first real estate company ever to score an ESG rating. Our business model is built on building environmentally friendly manufacturing campuses that are based on sustainable technologies and benefit local communities and regional development. It is proving to be the right way to go," added Hofman.

In the development and management of primarily manufacturing campuses, the Urbanity Group focuses on building primarily through the reclamation of neglected brownfield sites. In addition to the use of recycled materials in campus construction, water conservation is also essential and great attention is paid to landscape planting, greenery and biodiversity. Emphasis is placed on energy self-sufficiency based on a high standard of buildings and renewable sources, as well as on supporting local communities.

Mandatory non-financial reporting will soon affect large corporations and small businesses alike. ESG data reporting is increasingly required by financial institutions and clients in the real estate sector. At the same time, it is a way to use data to better monitor and manage the performance of companies and to truly mitigate environmental impacts.

Last year, Urbanity Real Estate Group, with the help of Frank Bold Advisory, set up an ESG strategy that enabled it to gather the necessary data and achieve its sustainability goals. It has also already released its first ESG report for 2022 and received the international BREEAM Communities award with the highest rating in the CEE region, complemented by winning the 25th edition of the prestigious "Best of Realty" competition.

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