Office Farms contribute to BREEAM & WELL Scores, enhancing commercial value

Square Mile Farms in collaboration with Hollen+ have created a model that rapidly shows the areas where an experiential office farm can contribute to elevating accreditation scores for a small capital investment and substantial ROI.

Market data shows that buildings with top marks in BREEAM and/or WELL not only provide occupiers tangible health, wellbeing and productivity benefits, but also deliver substantial improvements in rental yield and asset value. Reports by both JLL and Knight Frank have shown that hitting the top ranking for BREEAM and Well contribute to between 12 per cent and 20 per cent increases in rental value.

This is a clear market signal that the occupier experience and the social value of commercial buildings are starting to be reflected in the financial performance of commercial real estate assets.

Achieving these rankings can often require substantial capital investment  – however, Square Mile Farms’ experiential Office Farms have been shown to be a highly cost-effective option for adding points across multiple criteria from a single solution.

Research by Square Mile Farms and Hollen+ has shown that experiential Office Farming solutions can positively contribute to over 60 per cent of all assessment criteria, for both accreditations. The breadth of benefits Office Farms deliver to occupiers and the wider community helps owners and operators to maximise their chances of ‘tipping the scales’ and achieving top scores in their assessments. 

While still a new innovation in the commercial property sector, they are increasingly being specified in new builds as well as post-completion additions to increase the scores of existing properties. Across the UK, there are now close to 100 buildings benefitting from this addition, with new projects becoming more ambitious in scale.

Patrick Dumas, Founder & CEO of Square Mile Farms said: “The evidence is clear that buildings with top marks in BREEAM and/or WELL not only provide occupiers tangible health & wellbeing and productivity benefits, but also deliver substantial improvements in rental yield and asset values. This is a strong market signal that occupier experience and the social value are starting to be reflected in the financial performance of commercial real estate assets. Our Office Farming solutions are a highly engaging and cost-effective way to tip the scales on BREEAM and WELL scores to help our clients achieve top marks in both of these important assessments.”

Greg Davison, Founding Partner of Hollen+ added: “Our mission is to deliver sustainability and ESG opportunities which add value to real estate whilst reducing environmental impact, thereby delivering win/win scenarios for owners and occupiers. Square Mile Farms’ innovative offering provides a unique combination of benefits for both owners and occupiers and aligns perfectly with our mission. The research we have undertaken has shown a substantially positive impact on ESG accreditations such as BREEAM and WELL, helping improve ratings, e.g. BREEAM ‘Excellent’ to BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ which in turn adds significant capital value.”