Triovest Realty Advisors Inc.: Triovest’s Clear Sustainability Priorities Enable Real Results

Triovest Realty Advisors solidified its sustainability priorities to align with business objectives and drive organizational performance.

 

SITUATION:
Triovest wanted to ensure that its sustainability priorities were clear in relation to business objectives.
• All too often sustainability priorities are misaligned with a company’s broader business objectives
• Triovest wanted to identify priority issues to drive and refine business strategy, demonstrate transparency, and satisfy requirements to report publicly using the Global Reporting Initiative G4 standard

SOLUTION:
We completed the most-detailed stakeholder consultation to date in Canadian commercial real estate.
• Our materiality analysis followed a four-step process:
1. Identify sustainability issues for research
2. Conduct external and internal stakeholder interviews
3. Analyse materiality
4. Develop materiality matrix
• Triovest identified nine stakeholder groups (clients; community/NGOs; employees; government; industry associations; next generation (under 25); owner; suppliers; and tenants), and completed 20 internal and 17 external interviews
• From interview feedback, Triovest established a materiality matrix which identified the relative priority of issues to internal stakeholders and external stakeholders

OUTCOME:
We established clear and compelling priorities, and shared widely our lessons learned.
• Triovest created a materiality matrix that presents overall interviewee rankings of 31 issues – broken down into environmental, social, governance and financial categories – with regard to their level of importance
• Completing interviews and developing the matrix strengthened relationships with interviewees; improved understanding of priorities, underlying rationale, and differences in perspective; refined strategy; and increased foresight.

KEY VALUES:
Our initiative achieved impact, demonstrated innovation, inspired and informed.
• Impacts:
o Clear set of well-organized priorities for which we will establish key performance indicators, targets, and action plans to drive performance
• Innovation:
o Compelling, public-facing 2014 Materiality Matrix
o Comprehensive, systematic process, and clear interview guide and supporting materials
• Inspire and inform:
o Detailed process-oriented “how to” case study in BOMA BESt 2015 National Green Building Report for others who are considering a similar initiative
o Knowledge-sharing presentation to REALpac Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Committee and meetings with industry peers