Purpose - This thesis explores how financial market participants (FMPs) in hotel capital markets experience the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). It aims to identify how ESG disclosures influence investment decision-making and to assess where regulatory intent diverges from practical implementation.

Methodology - Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 FMPs, representing 6 stakeholder types active in European hotel capital markets, between March and April 2025.

Findings - Investors and lenders prioritize ESG indicators such as energy performance certificates (EPCs) and operational KPIs – particularly energy consumption data – though ESG integration remains largely driven by “financial-first logics.” SFDR implementation is uneven: “highly professional investors” possess the capacity to meet the directive’s demands, whereas smaller actors, including “mom-and-pop” hotel owners and operators, often lack the necessary resources, data infrastructure, or expertise. While SFDR classification increasingly shapes fund structure and capital raising, its influence on individual asset transactions remains limited but is expected to grow.

Research Limitations/Implications - Semi-structured interviews with a small, diverse sample enabled context-specific insights but limited comparability and replicability. Findings should be viewed as exploratory and indicative rather than representative of the sector.

Practical Implications - The findings underscore that ESG alignment is increasingly tied to both financial and operational leverage in commercial real estate, yet many investors still overlook its influence on cost of capital and asset-level performance. A persistent “wait-and-see” mindset – amplified by geopolitical uncertainty – continues to delay capital flows into at-risk hotel assets. To advance transition finance, SFDR must be recalibrated to avoid reinforcing divestment from stranded assets and instead incentivize their decarbonization.

Originality/Value - This is the first empirical investigation into how FMPs experience SFDR and ESG within the distinct context of hotel capital markets.

Regeneration in the built environment is characterized by going beyond the goal of minimizing environmental harm to become net-zero – or in other words 100% sustainable. It emphasizes the need to create net-positive impacts for the social-ecological system through the process of creating the built environment. The aim of this master thesis is therefore to clearly define regenerative development and regenerative design, as well as to explore which regenerative principles exist and how they can be practically applied throughout a project’s life cycle. The research methodology is a mixed-methods approach, consisting of an extensive literature review and three Dutch case studies of real estate projects. The four research outcomes are: (1) a clear definition of the key terms in the regenerative built environment context, (2) a review and summary of the regenerative principles stated in the existing literature, (3) a framework or guide for the application, assessment and implementation of regenerative principles in practice, and (4) an evaluation of projects in the built environment from a regenerative perspective. The research concludes that the selected projects have regenerative aspects, but realizing fully regenerative projects also requires a mindset shift.

This research addresses the barriers in adopting Digital Green Bonds (DGBs), which are financial instruments that integrate Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) into traditional green bond processes. DGBs aim to enhance transparency, liquidity, and efficiency, which can potentially reduce transaction costs and improve sustainability outcomes. Despite these theoretical benefits, practical adoption remains limited, leading to an in-depth exploration through a stakeholder-based case study focusing on the landmark ABN AMRO-Vesteda DGB issuance in the Netherlands. Identified barriers in traditional green bond processes include regulatory fragmentation, market inaccessibility, high transaction costs, gaps in technical expertise, and risks of greenwashing. DLT and DGBs show promise in addressing these issues by facilitating real-time compliance monitoring, fractionalization, 24/7 trading, automation, faster settlement processes, and improved transparency and reporting. However, significant obstacles persist, particularly outdated regulations, liquidity constraints, high initial investments, infrastructural and technical fragmentation, and limited market familiarity with DLT applications. Through empirical findings from semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders—including financial institutions, regulatory bodies, and technology providers—this research outlines actionable strategies to overcome these barriers. Recommended measures include developing clear and adaptive regulations, investing in interoperable and standardized infrastructures, conducting pilot projects to demonstrate feasibility, and raising market awareness through education and successful case studies. Ultimately, this research contributes to the growing body of knowledge on sustainable finance innovation by identifying practical strategies to accelerate DGB adoption and supporting the broader objective of closing the green financing gap.

This thesis investigates how housing providers in the Netherlands can improve tenant well-being and satisfaction in the rental sector through developmental and operational strategies, to enhance social value creation. Using a Design Science Research (DSR) methodology, an end-user well-being framework was developed by synthesising objectives from ESG frameworks, academic literature, and industry publications. The framework was refined through expert input and tested in interviews with developers and asset managers, under investors and housing associations operating in the Randstad region. Findings reveal which tenant-oriented social value objectives are integrated into current practices, where gaps remain, and how tenant needs and preferences influence business practices. The research positions tenant health, satisfaction, and lived experience as central to social value creation and offers strategy recommendations to help housing providers and policymakers align development and operations more closely with tenant well-being.

Introduction
The decarbonisation of the built environment is a crucial step towards meeting the Paris climate agreement. In the Netherlands, this decarbonisation is incentivised with the BENG and a mandatory minimum EPC label C for all office buildings. While energy improvement measures (EIMs) are widely adopted to reduce operational carbon, their environmental payback, meaning the time needed to offset the embodied carbon introduced during retrofitting, remains under-researched, particularly for small office buildings.

Aim and methods
This study investigates the environmental payback time of common EIMs in retrofitting small office buildings (100, 200 and 500m²) in the Dutch context. A simulation-based experimental approach was used, modelling four scenarios: baseline, hybrid, full-electric, and full-electric with PV panels across the three building sizes. Operational energy use and emissions were calculated using Vabi Elements software, while embodied carbon was assessed through the Whole Life Carbon Assessment (WLCA) framework using the input from the Ökobaudat EPD/LCA database.

Results
Results show energy reductions between 56% and 78%, depending on retrofit depth, with smaller buildings exhibiting proportionally higher savings. However, operational carbon reductions were not always proportional in relation to the energy reduction, due to the carbon intensity of grid electricity. Embodied carbon varied greatly, especially between biobased and conventional materials, and was also significantly influenced by the PV system. Payback times ranged from less than 1 year (in the 500m² biobased retrofits) to over 6 years (in small 100m² conventional+ PV scenario).

Conclusion
This research confirms that, despite variability, all retrofits examined achieved environmental payback well within the lifespan of the implemented measures. The findings underscore the importance of material choice and highlight the growing value of biobased solutions. They also suggest that hybrid systems, in light of the payback times, can offer a better solution as long as the electricity grid is not decarbonising rapidly and there is no access to renewable energy. These insights ultimately support informed, lifecycle-based retrofit decision-making.

The Netherlands faces severe affordability issues in the owner-occupied housing market. Not only are dwelling prices skyrocketing, but households are also struggling to cover rising energy prices. Meeting climate goals is an additional complexity layer, creating a divide between households able to adapt to the energy transition and ones lagging. Therefore, the distribution of benefits from energy-efficient housing remains uneven. This research investigates how demographic and socio-economic factors influence access to energy efficiency in the Dutch owner-occupied housing market, focusing on three dimensions of social equity, energy costs, wealth growth and access to subsidies. Using a mixed-methods approach, combining data analysis with interviews, the study finds significant disparities between households within the owner-occupied housing market. Lower-income households are underrepresented in better Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) categories and face barriers in subsidy access. While homes with better EPCs are linked to better energy efficiency and higher value appreciation, these advantages mostly benefit higher-income households. Existing subsidies, although intended well, often reinforce inequality due to complex procedures and distrust of certain households in the government. The study proposes policy directions to improve targeting and equity in subsidy schemes, aiming for a more inclusive and effective energy transition by incentivising, informing and integrating.

As climate risks become more frequent and severe, real estate developers are increasingly expected to incorporate climate adaptation into their projects. However, within Dutch practice, it remains unclear whether – and how – physical climate risks such as heat stress, water nuisance, flooding, and foundation issues are accounted for in development decisions. This thesis investigates how climate risks are currently addressed in Dutch real estate development and identifies the key factors shaping developers' responsiveness. Based on twelve semi-structured interviews with developers, investors, a municipality, and a bank, the research reveals a fragmented governance context, where stakeholder priorities diverge and early-stage incentives for adaptation are often lacking.
A synthesis of stakeholder perspectives shows that while public and financial actors are becoming more aware of climate risks, their capacity and willingness to act vary significantly depending on the risk in question. A stakeholder–risk matrix was developed to illustrate these diverging positions. In addition, a visualisation of the developer’s trajectory identifies critical phases in which climate risks could be embedded more proactively. The findings indicate that adaptation is rarely considered during the initiative and feasibility stages – when flexibility is highest – unless it is enforced through regulation or financial conditions.
The research concludes that successful integration of climate risks requires not only technical
solutions or financial means, but timely alignment across key actors. Developers can play a pivotal role by initiating early engagement with municipalities, investors, and banks, tailored to their respective concerns regarding specific climate risks. By embedding adaptation measures early in the process, developers can avoid costly late-stage revisions and external pressures. The study offers practical recommendations for developers and public actors to improve early-stage climate risk integration in the built environment.

This thesis explores the use of real option valuation to enhance the financial viability of circular real estate by valuing detachable aluminium façade components. The transition to a circular economy in the built environment is hindered by financial barriers: high upfront investment costs, and the absence of mechanisms to capture end-of-life value of building components. By applying option pricing models, including the Black & Scholes (1973) pricing model, binomial tree- and Heston (1993) option pricing, to a case study, this research uses aluminium commodity price data to value the option to recover raw aluminium embedded in a detachable façade system. A parallel qualitative study involving industry professionals assesses the willingness of market parties to adopt the researched valuation methods and to enter option contracts on detachable building components. Results indicate that real option valuation, as applied to aluminium building components, has the potential to fundamentally shift real estate valuation practices by introducing the concept of assessing buildings and components based on the “moneyness” of recovering embedded raw materials. In addition, by assigning a price to option contracts, this method enables both the demand side of building components to benefit from upfront cash inflows and the supply side to hedge against future material price volatility.

This study examines how real estate asset managers engage with the EU Taxonomy in managing climate risks. The study focusses on the EU Taxonomy's climate adaption goal, a classification system created to direct sustainable investment choices. It looks at whether and how asset managers might use this tool to assess adaption efforts in already-existing office buildings. While the Taxonomy sets a framework for sustainable investments, its implementation remains complex. The research explores awareness, alignment challenges, and motivations among asset managers across various real estate sectors. A mixed-method approach was used, combining literature review, semi-structured interviews, and a case study. Findings show that regulatory compliance is the primary driver of alignment, while administrative burdens, financial costs, and data limitations are key barriers. Most asset managers assess alignment after investment decisions, rather than using the Taxonomy proactively. Despite increasing awareness, compliance is often treated as a box-ticking exercise rather than a strategic tool. To improve adoption, the study emphasizes the need for clearer guidance, stronger financial incentives, and better data accessibility to support a more effective and integrated approach to climate risk management in real estate.

Efficient knowledge exchange is important for organizational success, especially in the multifaceted real estate industry. As the industry navigates rapid changes, complexity, and diverse stakeholders, the ability to share information, expertise, and insights is crucial. When managing big real estate portfolios, in the case of universities, the exchange of knowledge about real estate can play a beneficial role for the management of the buildings. However, barriers such as the lack of shared databases and repositories, inconsistencies in knowledge sharing tools, and limited technological utilization hinder the effective exchange of knowledge and collaboration between universities. Existing literature recognizes the potential benefits of AI in everyday use and the importance of tools in overcoming challenges regarding knowledge exchange. But the optimal contribution of AI remains an area requiring further research. Therefore, this research explores how Artificial Intelligence, through the creation of a project database and Tailored GPT model, can address these barriers and enhance knowledge exchange about university real estate buildings.

This research aims to address this gap by exploring the effectiveness of AI enhancing knowledge exchange about university buildings. Drawing on theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence, the research seeks to investigate how a knowledge database can be created for university real estate with the help of AI. Therefore, the goal of this research is how the exchange of knowledge between Dutch universities can be enhanced by the quick and effortless creation of a centralized AI-driven knowledge database for university real estate projects. The research uses a mixed-method approach, combining qualitative and quantitative analyses. The quantitative method involves the theoretical background and creation of the knowledge database using four steps: finding, collecting, creating an overview, and analyzing and identifying. The qualitative method involves interviews with campus managers, in which the created knowledge database will be explained and in which the campus managers can give their feedback. In the synthesis, the results from the theoretical and empirical research will be demonstrated in an expert panel. In the expert panel the project database is evaluated and the Tailored GPT is tested by people working in campus management to get a final understanding on how the database and GPT can be further improved. Resulting in a database and GPT model that can be used by people working in campus management as a stepping stool for the enhancement of the exchange of knowledge.

The debate on climate risk labels in the Dutch housing market is gaining momentum, with opinions divided on their potential benefits and drawbacks. This thesis delves into the impact of flood risk labels on the housing market, focusing on residential real estate owned by professional investors. By adopting an investor's perspective, the study examines the implications of various flood risks, including those from main water systems, regional areas, and heavy rainfall. The research design incorporates a literature review, a questionnaire, and an expert discussion to validate the findings. The literature review explores the investment landscape in the Netherlands, existing labels in real estate, and sustainability reporting. The empirical research involves a questionnaire distributed to professional investors, followed by an expert discussion to validate the results. The study aims to understand how flood risk labels influence investment strategies and climate mitigation efforts. The findings reveal that flood risk labels somewhat benefit the decision-making process of professional real estate investors in the Netherlands. Investors consider flood risk labels as a valuable tool for risk reporting and guiding investment decisions in the face of climate change. The study contributes to the ongoing discussion on the necessity and design of climate risk labels, providing insights into their potential to improve housing valuations and investment strategies.

Within the framework of this paper, spatial practices between the built and the un-built in the context of urban regeneration of neighbourhoods at city fringes are explored. The proposed spatial practice, called spatial nuancing refers to the reconsideration and redefinition of public space. Spatial nuancing is applied in the context of existing spatial and social dynamics as a means for initiating regeneration through new approaches. It can be applied at various scales and contexts. In this work, the focus lies in the context of post-war modernist developments, that are widely characterized by large-scale and under-managed public spaces. This work challenges the perception and considerations of those kinds of under-managed public spaces and follows along the main research question: What if under-management is considered as a quality in public space?
By proposing a strategy that includes the punctual implementation of places of common the public space can be reactivated, not by increasing management but by connecting the main actors of the public space: the people. It argues that spatial nuancing with the example of the creation of places of common binds together and reinforces social and spatial qualities. This has a catalysing effect on the development and quality of life in a neighbourhood.

Sustainability is increasingly important for homebuyers due to environmental awareness, legislation, and financial benefits like reduced energy costs and higher mortgage potential for energy-efficient properties. However, evaluating a home's sustainability is challenging as properties may be misrepresented by the seller. Further on, the bounded rationality of homebuyers can also affect property assessment. This thesis explores the legal obligations applicable to homebuyers in assessing sustainability before purchase, explores current market practices for assessing sustainability, and explores professional property evaluation. Thereby, this thesis aims to use insights retrieved from professional investors to guide homebuyers in making informed decisions on sustainability when buying a residence.

A mixed-methods approach, including a legal review, interviews with professional investors, and a survey among homeowners, was used. The legal review indicates that buyers must conduct thorough property investigations. Energy labels provide information but do not guarantee specific features and should be compared with the true state of the property and seller information. Annulment of a purchase based solely on an energy label is difficult without false disclosures.

Interviews reveal that unsustainable properties are losing value, partly due to legislation limiting the lease of such assets to tenants. Professional investors use various methods to assess sustainability, such as comparing assets with reference objects, seeking external advisory, assessing development potential, examining energy consumption data, evaluating climate risks, understanding energy labels, considering certifications like BREEAM, assessing embodied carbon, and evaluating asset installations and insulation.

The survey shows that sustainability is increasingly important to homeowners, primarily to reduce energy costs. Respondents are willing to pay more for higher energy labels but often fail to thoroughly investigate property sustainability, highlighting this study's relevance. Greenwashing was not a significant issue among respondents.

This study supports previous research on the importance of sustainability and the need for thorough property investigations. Limitations include the difficulty of generalizing legal rulings, the small survey sample, and potential interviewer bias. Evolving legislation, fluctuating energy prices, and the volatile housing market may quickly render results outdated.

Homebuyers are advised to consider the energy label, check its assessment date, and conduct additional research before purchasing. Homebuyers are advised to request previous energy consumption data and consider risks related to heat, flooding, and foundation damage. External advice is recommended, especially for homes built before the 2012 Building Decree. The state of installations can be assessed with further external certification. While solar panels can improve an energy label, proper insulation is more crucial. Limiting energy demand should be prioritized before focusing on green energy generation.

The significance of sustainability and sustainable development has been the subject of increasing attention. As is evident in our daily lives, sustainability concerns individuals, but it is also on the agenda of governments and private organisations. Many sectors have focused on sustainability, including corporate real estate, but in this sector the focus is mainly on offices. There is a lack of literature on industrial real estate, which plays the supporting role to the main business, in the context of sustainability. This research aims to address this specific type of corporate real estate and to explore, through a case study, what drives sustainable development in the corporate real estate of a manufacturing company located within the European Union. The case study method included literature review, interviews and document analysis to answer the main research question: "What are the external and internal drivers of sustainability in corporate real estate management of a manufacturing company?" Based on literature and market findings the research was designed around four main categories of drivers: stakeholders, financial incentives, regulatory drivers and risk management. The findings show the importance of stakeholders and regulations; financial incentives are important but not directly recognized as drivers; climate change risk and risk management are at an early stage of development. Nevertheless, there is a growing recognition of the importance of sustainability of corporate real estate, despite its supporting role. This research contributes to the knowledge gap regarding the sustainability of industrial real estate.

Corporate Real Estate Management (CREM) professionals face diverse challenges, from space optimization to financial decision-making, in their field. The potential of emerging AI technologies, such as ChatGPT, remains underexplored in this context. This research seeks to address this knowledge gap by examining whether a tailored ChatGPT can significantly enhance the capabilities of CREM professionals with a focus on property managers. The central question revolves around ChatGPT's utility within Property management, aiming to answer the fundamental question: "‘’What is the added value of a tailored ChatGPT for professionals in Property Management?" A mixed-method approach, combining qualitative and quantitative methods, is employed. This approach encompasses in-depth interviews, thematic analysis, and surveys to assess ChatGPT's performance. The research objectives encompass evaluating ChatGPT's performance compared to human experts and gauging its added value. The anticipated outcomes include a comprehensive research findings report, quantitative and qualitative datasets, and a tailored ChatGPT for property managers. This research aspires to understand the potential role of a tailored ChatGPT in CREM and providing insights to policymakers and technologists regarding AI's potential in shaping the future of CREM.

Purpose. Dutch universities must cope with evolving demand when aligning their real estate, facing uncertainty due to dynamic trends and a relatively static portfolio. The result is a strategy moving towards a resilient, shared and centralised campus, emphasising multi-purpose spaces. This shift involves shared building use, a strategy of creating generic spaces accessible to a diverse range of internal (and external) users. A building is shared when a majority of its useful space is generic, not assigned to a specific individual or group of individuals and often adaptable to fit multiple users in the short and long term. Despite identifying general trends, the reasons and functionality behind the increased use of shared spaces remain unclear in current literature. Moreover, there is a noticeable absence in literature of an uniformly acknowledged definition and term that adequately encapsulates the characteristics of facilities described as ‘shared’. This research aims to analyse the motivations driving this integration, establish a precise understanding of this particular approach to facility use and identify essential stakeholder requirements for practical use. Grasping the forces behind, the proces for and the effects of this trend is crucial for evaluating both positive and negative aspects of shared spaces on campus, contributing to achieving university real estate goals.

Research approach. The primary objective of this research is to study how shared spaces can be used to support and advance university real estate objectives. Therefore, the main question is: How do shared spaces on the university campus align with organisational, functional, financial and physical real estate objectives? This study will apply a case-study research approach to find an answer to the main question. First, desk research will be focussed on exploring the field of shared building use. Then, with the outcomes of desk research as a starting point, case-study research will be used to better understand a select number of cases within the field. The case studies aim to get comprehensive insights by analysing various perspectives and establishing KPIs. The methods used to study cases include literature study, interviews, existing data analysis and usage data analysis. The goal is to deliver a thorough theoretical background, a case overview for reference projects, detailed information on specific cases and a cross-case analysis.

Results. The cross-case analysis shows that financial constraints and the need for physical efficiency encourage universities to shift towards shared spaces. This shift is supported by functional and organisational demands, creating generic, versatile spaces that facilitate various activities. This approach can meet the diverse needs of users for flexibility and comfort while aligning with institutional goals of resource optimisation, organisational resilience and financial risk mitigation. The study emphasises the importance of continuous stakeholder engagement and integrated governance in ensuring shared spaces effectively meet university and user needs in a dynamic campus context.

Discussion. The research shows the complex interconnectedness of public values, trends and motivations concerning integrating shared spaces on campus. However, limitations are acknowledged, such as a focus on a select number of universities and reliance on qualitative data. Therefore, further studies examining shared spaces across educational and societal settings are suggested. Moreover, this thesis expands the theoretical understanding of campus management and offers practical insights for better campus planning, including shared spaces. For practitioners, the results stress the importance of adopting shared spaces for the future viability of Dutch university campuses, emphasising a shift towards sharing and collaboration. Laslty, campus managers are provided with practical insights and best practices from various contexts to support diverse stakeholder needs and institutional objectives.

Climate change is advancing at an unforeseen pace, with the built environment responsible for 40% of global emissions. With the acceptance of climate risk as a financial risk, market participants bear the responsibility of mitigating this problem. Office real estate plays a crucial role as a sustainable workspace is also crucial in its retention of talented workforce. With hybrid working expected to become a non-negotiable fixture of the workplace ecosystem, the office of the future is very different. The relationship between employees and the workspace continuously shifts due to changing occupancy patterns that stem from these evolving working processes, which in turn impacts the energy consumption of a building. This thesis attempts to understand the impact of hybrid working processes on the energy consumption of workspace environments using a quantitative research design to answer the following research question: How is the energy consumption of the workspace environment impacted by hybrid modes of working? The methodology includes data from a literature review, synthetic data simulations and occupancy and energy data from two case studies. The results demonstrate that there are benefits from employing a hybrid working model, provided offices are equipped or retrofitted to ensure their energy usage can respond to the dynamic occupancy levels. Furthermore, workspace design should reflect and cater to the diverse habits and preferences of the end user to ensure efficient use of space. However, these benefits are not equitably distributed as the energy saved is offset onto the end user thereby widening the existing inequalities in place. Future design and policy should consider user, building, campus and city scale solutions to create a balanced and sustainable outcome that benefits society as a whole. A system mapping identifying the different impact areas of hybrid working and their interdependencies has been formulated to support improved management of building assets for real estate professionals and business.

Climate change requires an innovative approach to retrofitting current built environments. This study tackles the significant intersection among lasting technologies, and financial models in the context of sustainable retrofitting. The issue at hand pertains to the necessity for feasible plans to grab and exploit amplified value resulting from sustainable retrofitting procedures.
Using a mixed-methods approach, this research applies qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Qualitative techniques entail case studies and exploratory analyses, offering insights into success factors, and best practices. Quantitative methods, like the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) financial modelling, assess the financial value of sustainable retrofit initiatives.
The primary objectives of this study are to comprehensively understand the intricate dynamics of individual and/ or collective Sustainable Energy Technologies (SETs) in retrofit practices at the neighbourhood level and will analyse whether implementing SETs on a building-by-building basis or at the neighbourhood level, or a combination of both, is preferable. The anticipated outcomes consist of a report consisting of literature review, case study, and comprehensive TCO model. These outputs aim to offer a robust framework for stakeholders include investors, policymakers, end-users, and others involved, facilitating informed decision-making and rule-setting regarding individual and/or collective SETs in retrofit projects.
Key findings from the TCO analysis show that collective systems become cost-effective beyond approximately 60 units due to economies of scale. In addition, the study highlights the critical role of accurate cost estimation, financial planning, and improved data transparency in SET implementation.
This research advances methodologies for assessing retrofits and lays the groundwork for sustainable building practices. By examining theoretical frameworks and practical applications, it paves the way for a more refined approach to sustainable retrofitting.