In a previous conversation with GlobeSt.com, Sudhi Sinha UL's vice president for Ecosystems and Service Development, and Lauren Alexander, an ESG program manager with UL's ESG Advisory and Assurance Team discussed how building systems fall down on tracking ESG data. And that ESG data is critical for CRE.

"ESG is largely driven by investors or your business partners," according to Alexander. "It's driven by regulation and legislation as well as society as a whole. So, when we're working with our clients in real estate, they're largely concerned with what investors want to know. And investors want to know how your real estate portfolio is performing in comparison to your competitors in comparison to their other portfolios they're invested in."

But there's another aspect of ESG. Not as something to be done to make investors and regulators comfortable, but to cut costs and make buildings more profitable. "From the real estate standpoint, you're looking at your bottom line, your operational costs," Alexander says. "That's a reason to use these smart technologies like building automation systems. Building automation systems … really help all of the equipment talk to each other. Building engineers are looking at these systems, trying to make those minute adjustments to make the building as efficient as possible."