- “All indices or reporting frameworks include indicators that assess diversity and inclusion and accessibility.”
The ESG and sustainability director of CBRE SPAIN, Leyre Echevarría Icaza, emphasizes that certifying with AIS helps to give visibility to the accessibility and inclusion efforts made by companies. In a meeting with AIS, she responded to our question: Is the market ready for a certification like AIS?
Leyre Echevarría Icaza: Yes, I think the market is ready for a certification like AIS. People are increasingly at the center of the decisions that are made at the corporate level, at the portfolio level, and at the asset level.
Sustainability is ESG. The E stands for environment, the S for social and the G for governance. An accessible real estate park is a real estate park that has a positive impact on society. And in this sense all indexes, reporting frameworks and certifications, such as CSRD at the corporate level, or GRESB at the portfolio level, or at the asset level LEED, BREEAM and WELL include indicators that value diversity and inclusion and accessibility.
For this reason, I believe that a certification that focuses solely on accessibility would give visibility to the efforts made by properties and occupants to have buildings that are as accessible and inclusive as possible.
And beyond these, let’s say, regulatory or reporting reasons, personally, I wanted to tell an anecdote. I went to a high school that was accessible and many of the friends I have from that time, I keep them now because they have been a reference at many levels.
CBRE SPAIN, Authorized Entity AIS
Leyre Echevarría is the ESG and sustainability director of CBRE SPAIN, which is an Authorized Entity for the AIS 1/2023 Standard, related to both built and planned urbanized environments.
As an authorized entity, CBRE can carry out the commercialization of AIS and has professionals trained in the AIS methodology to carry out consulting work and help its clients achieve the highest possible degree of accessibility with AIS.
