This is a translation of an original article written in Swedish and published by Trivector Traffic, available here.

After reading Vasakronan’s recently published Sustainability Report for 2024, Anna Stankovski Clark was struck by the company’s decision to highlight both their own and their tenants’ commuting emissions as a key part of their climate and sustainability efforts – still a relatively rare practice in the property sector.

Curious about why, she reached out to Anna Denell, Head of Sustainability at Vasakronan since 2008, for a short interview. Denell shares the motivation behind the decision, something about the challenges they’ve faced, and why they hope more companies will recognise the value of addressing commuting as part of their sustainability strategies.

Commuting: a vital part of the sustainability equation

Vasakronan is a pioneer in the property sector in Sweden – not only for its portfolio of environmentally certified buildings, but also for its long-standing, systematic approach to sustainability. As part of this, and for over 15 years, the company has collected data on tenants’ commuting patterns, even though this is not a formal requirement.

"When we began addressing Scope 3 emissions, it quickly became clear that tenant commuting to and from our properties was a major contributor – in fact, it turned out to be our single largest source of emissions", says Denell.

Climate strategy and customer value go hand-in-hand

Vasakronan owns and manages office properties in Sweden’s four largest cities. Sustainability has long been central to the company’s business strategy. In 2013, it became the first company in Europe to LEED certify existing building stock, using a portfolio method. Collecting commuting data via surveys every three years has been a part of that certification process from the start.

But the benefits extend beyond emissions reporting:

“Efforts to support cycling and car-free commuting not only contribute to sustainability – they also improve customer satisfaction,” Denell explains.

Even before integrating sustainability into its corporate strategy, Vasakronan focused on investing in properties with good public transport links – primarily because such locations are more attractive to tenants. Despite this focus on accessibility by public transport, commuting by tenants was still the largest contributor to the company’s overall emissions when they started calculating it.

To promote more sustainable travel behaviour, Vasakronan offers a range of tailored solutions: secure bike storage, shower and changing facilities, electric vehicle charging points, and a flexible permit-based parking system that replaces fixed spaces – allowing more efficient use of available space. All of this is underpinned by a deliberate strategy to locate buildings in areas well-served by public transport.

Collaboration and systemic change

Collaboration with municipalities and public transport authorities is important, and Denell emphasises that more is needed here:

“Transport is a broader societal issue. It’s not something a single property owner can solve alone. We engage in dialogue with local actors, but it’s not always straightforward.”

She also points to how access to sustainable commuting options is increasingly linked to employer attractiveness – this is partly a generational shift that’s also becoming a business issue for Vasakronan.

“Many younger employees choose not to work in locations that can’t be reached by public transport or bicycle.”

As a result, companies in car-dependent locations often struggle to attract new talent – something Vasakronan hears from clients looking to relocate to more central, public transport-friendly areas. Offering mobility solutions is thus not only a climate initiative – it's a competitive advantage in retaining and attracting tenants.

The data challenge

Commuting data is currently collected through web surveys, but response rates are often low, and self-selection gives biased data. For this reason, the data is not yet included in Vasakronan’s official climate reporting tables, but it is discussed in the report’s narrative sections.

“Even so, we see great value in the data – both as an internal eye-opener and as a way to engage our clients. The next step is improving data quality, potentially with the help of new technologies or research collaborations.”

Creating space for people

Vasakronan approaches mobility from several perspectives: climate, health, and urban development. Reducing car dependency isn’t about taking a stand against cars – it’s about creating more liveable urban spaces:

“Cars take up a lot of space in cities. That space could instead be used for green areas, outdoor cafés, or public art – things that make neighbourhoods more vibrant and appealing. In turn, that increases the attractiveness of our properties,” Denell says.

By including commuting in its climate work, Vasakronan sends a clear message: sustainability is not only about a building’s operational emissions – it’s also about how people move to and from the workplace. And property owners can, and should, be part of the solution.

Find out more

Read more about Vasakronans work on sustainability here (Swedish).

Vasakronans Sustainability Report 2024 here (Swedish)

Interview and translation by Anna Stankovski Clark.