Directions for a sustainable real estate strategy

Purpose – The Delft University of Technology adapted their sustainable mission and wants to apply it also to the corporate real estate management. To allow decision making based upon a more integral approach in a long term perspective a choice is made for total cost of ownership. The benevolent project managers, asset managers, facility managers and financial account managers then ask for data, where they actually need a compass to interpret that data. The purpose of this paper is to find that compass. Design/methodology/approach – A theory-practice oriented approach is followed. Literature review is conducted to identify the need for a new economy that distances itself from the outdated neo-liberal models and gives space to a material-driven circular economy on the one hand and the more pragmatic life-cycle cost (total cost of ownership) approach on the other. Findings – It seems that the donut economy offers the compass that the practice currently needs. It offers scope for making assumptions in a period in which people know which way things are going and at the same time want to have 'hard data'. Quality/value – The study has the potential to support the university real estate management in its aim to meet their sustainable mission and to set a general approach. It will contribute to a larger research on this topic.