From asset to liability: When net-zero promises fall apart in due diligence

Net-zero isn’t just about ethics or optics anymore. When investment firms or acquisition teams do their due diligence, it’s become a line item - one that can directly impact whether a deal goes through. From a financial lens, net-zero isn’t about being green - it’s about being future-proof.

Buyers and investors don’t want a liability. If a company claims it’s on a net-zero path but hasn’t backed that up with a funded, coherent plan, it sets off alarms. All those vague commitments and PR statements can backfire if there’s nothing solid underneath. Why? Because achieving those promises could fall to the new owner, and that means extra cost, extra complexity, and unnecessary risk.

Greenwashing risks derailing deals

This isn’t hypothetical. Environmental claims are increasingly scrutinised during due diligence, especially in asset-heavy industries. If the business being acquired positions sustainability as part of its brand or growth strategy, yet lacks the infrastructure or data to support it, the acquirer is left holding the bag.

A fragmented net-zero strategy - spread across disconnected projects, each with its own budget, owners, and timelines only makes things worse. It’s harder to quantify the actual risk, harder to know what’s funded or achievable, and nearly impossible to course-correct without tearing the whole thing apart. Investors don’t want to gamble on best guesses or well-meaning intentions.

One joined-up plan makes net-zero a financial asset

The financial value of net-zero comes down to clarity. A single, integrated strategy where all emissions-reduction projects sit in one plan makes due diligence easier, not harder. It shows what’s funded, what’s working, what’s at risk, and what can be dropped or redirected.

It’s not about perfection, it’s about transparency and insight. A joined-up net-zero roadmap lets investors see what they’re buying. It turns sustainability into an asset, not a red flag.

A credible, integrated, and funded net-zero plan could be the difference between closing the deal and being left behind.

From reactive to proactive: rethinking maintenance for better outcomes

Good facility management should protect your buildings, your people, and your bottom line. But in many cases, even the most dedicated teams are stuck in reactive cycles—responding to issues as they arise, without the tools or oversight to prevent them in the first place.

From the outside, everything seems fine. The invoices are paid. The systems are running. But under the surface, performance issues often go undetected. Heating overrides. Outdated controls. Missed savings. The result is inefficiency that’s easy to miss—and expensive to fix.

When no one is looking under the hood

The challenge isn’t lack of effort—it’s lack of insight. Without regular system checks, data analysis, or clear performance benchmarks, small inefficiencies multiply over time. Teams end up firefighting instead of fine-tuning, and that means higher costs, more wear and tear, and slower progress on sustainability goals.

Effective maintenance isn’t just about keeping systems online. It’s about ensuring they’re running as they should—efficiently, consistently, and with minimal waste. That takes more than checklists. It takes the ability to understand patterns, spot anomalies, and act early.

It’s not about more work—it’s about better focus

This isn’t about doing more—it’s about knowing where to focus. With better visibility, it becomes easier to direct effort where it matters most. When the data is clear, decisions get easier. You can measure performance, track improvements, and make informed choices about what needs attention—and what doesn’t.

Build on what’s already working

Most organisations already have committed teams doing their best within the limits of what they can see. The opportunity lies in equipping them with the insight to go further. When strategy and operations are aligned, performance improves—not through more effort, but through better direction.

Operational clarity helps bridge that gap. It helps senior leaders ask better questions, challenge assumptions, and make sure the value being delivered matches the money being spent.

Rethinking hot water safety in a net-zero context

In many organisations, compliance with Legionella regulations is a well-established routine: maintaining elevated water temperatures, flushing outlets regularly, and logging the activity. These measures are vital for safety, but they weren’t designed with energy or carbon efficiency in mind.

Domestic hot water systems are often significant energy users, yet their impact is frequently overlooked in broader sustainability strategies. Especially in large or complex buildings, maintaining consistently high temperatures across an entire network can come at a notable carbon cost.

A balance between risk and efficiency

Much of the current approach stems from a desire to avoid risk. Heating water above 60 °C offers reassurance that bacterial growth is being controlled. But this often results in systems running constantly, regardless of actual usage or need. In practice, that could mean heating and reheating water that’s never used, or flushing litres down the drain as part of routine checks.

It raises a question worth exploring: are all the measures in place today still necessary in every context, or are some driven more by precedent than performance?

Understanding actual demand, outlet use, and temperature trends may help reveal where adjustments are possible - without compromising safety. But doing so requires the right data and a willingness to reassess long-held assumptions.

A more integrated view

Rather than viewing compliance and carbon as competing priorities, there may be scope to align them. Tools now exist to monitor temperature patterns more closely, control systems more precisely, and target interventions where they’re most needed.

Some organisations are already starting to explore this intersection - using insight to reduce energy use while continuing to meet safety requirements. It’s not about lowering standards, but about working smarter within them.

For organisations aiming to reduce operational emissions, domestic hot water systems may offer more opportunities than previously thought. The question is no longer just how to stay compliant, but how to do so in a way that also supports broader sustainability goals.

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Why energy security is now a business-critical issue

Some resources are so fundamental that without them, business comes to a standstill. Labour, capital, raw materials, and information are the obvious ones. Among those raw materials is electricity.

For decades, energy sat in the background—seen as dependable, low-risk, and almost invisible. It was treated like stationery or cleaning products: a routine cost, assumed to be unlimited and unproblematic. That mindset is shifting fast.

Because when the power cuts out, everything stops. The recent blackout at Heathrow and failures across Spain’s national grid made that reality impossible to ignore. Energy isn’t just another input—it’s the lifeblood of modern business. And when it fails, the consequences are immediate: no electricity means no business.

The hidden risk in your operations

Most business continuity plans mention electricity—but usually as a box to tick: a backup generator, maybe an untested system buried in the appendix. What’s often missing is a clear understanding of how and when you actually use electricity. Without that visibility, even minor interruptions can lead to significant disruptions.

And this isn’t just about sudden outages. Rising demand, pressure on grids, and uncertainty around renewables all contribute to a more fragile energy landscape. If electricity is a key input to your operations, as fundamental as money or people, it deserves the same strategic attention.

Energy visibility is risk resilience

You can’t control the grid, but you can control your demand. And that starts with insight. Understanding where energy is used, when it peaks, and where it’s wasted isn’t just about hitting sustainability targets—it’s about keeping your business running.

Reducing unnecessary demand strengthens resilience. It means your operations are less vulnerable to price spikes, infrastructure strain, or supply limitations. It might even mean your critical systems can run on a smaller generator if needed. If your business plans to grow, optimisation of current use means that growth is not restricted by an electrical grid connection, for example, and can be achieved with lower costs.

The businesses that do best in the face of energy volatility are those that don’t leave it to chance. They build clarity around demand, optimise what they control, and act before disruption hits.

Energy security isn’t just about supply. It’s about knowing how your business uses energy—and what happens when it’s no longer there.

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Electrification isn’t the finish line if the grid isn’t clean when you plug in

As organisations remove gas boilers and install heat pumps, they’re rightly targeting Scope 1 emissions—the direct carbon released on site. But as that demand shifts to electricity, another question emerges: just how green is the grid you’re relying on?

It’s easy to assume that electrification means decarbonisation. But the truth is more complicated. What used to be a Scope 1 problem is now a Scope 2 one—and in many cases, it’s not as clean as the spreadsheet suggests.

Two problems: cost and carbon

Electrification of heat isn’t just a technical shift—it’s a financial and environmental one. Electricity still costs significantly more than gas. And while it’s greener than it used to be, the grid isn’t fully decarbonised.

The demand for green electricity is rising. Heat pumps, EVs, batteries—each adds pressure to a system that can’t scale renewables fast enough. Without better matching of supply and demand, decarbonisation slows down - just when it needs to accelerate.

Supply, demand, and double counting

The market for “green electricity” isn’t unlimited. Suppliers sell green energy contracts to as many buyers as they can verify. Once that stock runs out, the rest of their customers, often unknowingly, get their energy from the same mixed grid, while still assuming it's green. This leads to a kind of carbon double-counting.

Just buying a green tariff doesn’t guarantee that your energy was renewable at the time you used it. In a net-zero strategy, that matters.

The shift to 24/7 green

Some of the most ambitious organisations—think global tech leaders like Google—aren’t just buying clean energy. They’re tracking when it’s actually clean. That means monitoring grid carbon intensity hourly, shifting loads when possible, and using their own renewables or storage to fill the gaps.

This approach—24/7 carbon matching—sets a new standard. It’s harder. But it’s honest. And it reflects a reality many are just starting to reckon with: it’s not enough to say you’ve bought green. You need to know when it’s green.

Why it matters now

The grid has come a long way in decarbonising. However, demand is rising rapidly, driven by electrified heating, electric vehicles, and ambitious net-zero goals. Without major infrastructure expansion, the renewable share risks falling behind, even as total capacity grows.

And in some markets, such as Ireland, real-time grid carbon data isn’t even available. That makes true Scope 2 tracking impossible, limiting the credibility of sustainability reporting.

Start with what you can measure

For many organisations, hourly tracking may feel out of reach. But starting with grid intensity data—where it’s available—is the first step toward smarter electrification. Even without real-time grid data, there’s plenty you can act on—if you know where to look.

Understanding when and where your energy is being used allows you to reduce unnecessary demand, shift flexible loads, and design systems that don’t overshoot your limits. That’s where deep performance insight becomes essential. By mapping actual usage patterns, identifying waste, and revealing opportunities to optimise, you can build an electrification strategy that works with the infrastructure you have—not the one you wish for. Because in a market where power and data are both in short supply, clarity is your strongest asset.

Compliance starts with clarity: navigating the EPC road ahead

By 2030, every rented commercial property in England and Wales will need to meet a minimum EPC rating of B. The interim target—EPC C by 2027—is already on the horizon. But with over 80% of UK commercial buildings currently falling below the B threshold, the scale of the challenge is now impossible to ignore.

This isn’t a distant policy shift—it’s a live risk. Penalties, valuation impacts, and regulatory enforcement are all beginning to materialise. For many asset owners and landlords, 2025 is the year when energy performance stops being a secondary concern and becomes a direct commercial issue.

There’s no more runway. And the pressure is coming from both sides—tightening regulations on one end, and growing market expectations on the other.

It’s not just about compliance—it’s about viability

Buildings that don’t meet the standard will become unlettable. That’s not a distant risk—it’s a structural shift in how real estate value is assessed. Poor-performing assets will face penalties, reduced tenancy options, and lower investor confidence.

The most pressing issue? Time. These upgrades don’t happen overnight. And for portfolios with multiple older buildings, waiting until guidance becomes clearer or funding becomes easier could mean falling behind the curve.

Start where you are, not where you hope to be

Many organisations are holding off because complete upgrades feel overwhelming. But the first step isn’t action—it’s insight. Before commissioning works, it’s worth understanding what’s already working, where the biggest inefficiencies are, and which interventions offer the clearest return.

That means looking beyond the EPC label to how the building actually performs on a day-to-day basis, and how systems behave. Where energy is used—and where it’s wasted. With that kind of clarity, it's easier to prioritise what needs attention first, avoid unnecessary costs, and build a path that’s both strategic and achievable. No guesswork. No unnecessary upgrades. Just measurable improvements, based on what your buildings need.

This isn’t about panic—it’s about preparation

The properties that will remain competitive are those that demonstrate their performance. That starts with visibility. If you know where your risks lie, you can manage them effectively. If you don’t, they’ll manage you.

The EPC deadline is real. But so is the opportunity to act early and act wisely.