Nora Hoffmann: Driving Decarbonisation Through Technology and Leadership
In an increasingly regulated and climate-conscious business landscape, corporate sustainability teams are being asked to do more — and do it faster. Nora Hoffmann, Senior Manager for Corporate Sustainability at JLL Germany, is no stranger to this pressure. But as she explains, the key to effective climate action isn’t just better data or stronger policies. It’s a clear alignment between technology, leadership, and culture.
Digital Tools for Real-World Impact
At the core of JLL’s decarbonisation efforts is a deep commitment to energy efficiency — enabled by digital infrastructure. Nora explains how technology helps her team understand, model, and improve building performance:
“Technology is a very important part of the decarbonisation path, and as JLL is a technology company with looking on the real estate industry, we are using a lot of technologies to plan or set out our decarbonisation path. One of the opportunities, for instance, is energy efficiency — it's one of the key points or key measures that we're taking. We have a product that is called Smart Building Platform. What we're doing: we are connecting with the PMS, the building management system, and every meter that is available in a building so that there is great communication between different tools. We are sucking out every energy data that we are getting, and then we are creating a digitalisation twin. So we are creating different types of scenarios for the building to have a better decision — what we are going to do in terms of setups — and then, yes, you can derive a lot of energy savings out of it.”
Building Circularity from the Ground Up
At the core of JLL’s decarbonisation efforts is a deep commitment to energy efficiency — enabled by digital infrastructure. Nora explains how technology helps her team understand, model, and improve building performance:
“Technology is a very important part of the decarbonisation path, and as JLL is a technology company with looking on the real estate industry, we are using a lot of technologies to plan or set out our decarbonisation path. One of the opportunities, for instance, is energy efficiency — it's one of the key points or key measures that we're taking. We have a product that is called Smart Building Platform. What we're doing: we are connecting with the PMS, the building management system, and every meter that is available in a building so that there is great communication between different tools. We are sucking out every energy data that we are getting, and then we are creating a digitalisation twin. So we are creating different types of scenarios for the building to have a better decision — what we are going to do in terms of setups — and then, yes, you can derive a lot of energy savings out of it.”
This isn’t just a vision — it’s evidence-based. Buildings account for approximately 40% of global energy demand (IEA, World Energy Outlook 2023) and nearly 26% of energy-related CO₂ emissions (IEA, 2023). Systems incorporating digital twins and smart building technology have consistently delivered energy reductions of up to 30% (MDPI, Energy Informatics, 2023).
Nora’s approach is pragmatic: she starts with data, then identifies tangible solutions:
“It always depends what kind of buildings you have in front of you. I think that's the main point where you make the decision. You should make an analysis. But also, a very good efficiency is to implement heat pumps, for instance, to reduce heating. And of course, to change the energy to renewables. This is also something where you really can save a lot of carbon emissions. So there are many factors that you can use to reduce your carbon footprint — as I said, like with heat pumps, for instance, installing them, and renewable energies. You can also install them on site so that you get your new renewable energy, for instance. And yeah, there are also a lot of activities that you can do for the building itself, so it can save heating — for instance, HVAC systems that you implement. That would be the main recommendation I have.”
Framing Sustainability as a Business Driver
Nora is also clear that technology alone isn't enough. Leadership — and how sustainability is positioned internally — makes all the difference:
“I'm responsible for our corporate sustainability strategy. We have different experts that work with our clients, so they have the expert knowledge. As you mentioned, leadership is super, super important when it comes to sustainability — first of all from a human resource perspective, but also from a financial perspective. It's important in leadership that they take care of sustainability, because they are linked with a lot of business activities. They can give a hint where sustainability is very important. What I also think is very, very important to mention is that sustainability is a business case. If you implement the measurements I mentioned, with renewable energies or heat pumps and things like that, you can also save a lot of money. There are other activities or measurements that come out of sustainability. That's why I see it as a really big business case — and this is what our leadership is responsible for, to take it into the business and into our corporate strategy.”
Industry data reinforces her point: smart energy retrofits typically pay for themselves within 3–5 years, delivering annual savings between 10–50% (UK Green Building Council, 2023).
Nora’s insight also reinforces a broader shift: from compliance to competitiveness.
“I noticed very much that sustainability is also a key factor why a client chooses you above another. We are advising our clients on sustainability, but I think it's very, very important to walk the talk — not just point the finger and say you need to do this and this, but we can say, 'We did it already. We had success with it.' So, look, we have done this and this, and this would be our recommendation. This is something which I think is also a very important factor. Beyond that, I think also talent attraction is very, very important. Nowadays, society in general is more questioning companies, and if you can prove that you have a purpose and a sustainability agenda, you are very attractive — for the talents, but also for the clients.”
Culture and Scope 3: The Human Factor
For many organisations, Scope 3 remains the most elusive part of climate reporting. Nora doesn’t deny the challenge — but she offers concrete ways to get started:
“Depending on your strategy, also from a real estate perspective, at JLL we are looking for centralized offices that are easy to travel to with public transportation. We offer our employees a public transportation ticket that is 100% free, and they can use it in their private time. That is something very important. We also develop opportunities for people to use e-mobility, for instance, and incentivize bicycles so that people come to the office by bike, if that’s possible. There are other incentives you can use to encourage people to walk more to the office instead of using the car. Now, springtime or summertime is a very good time to offer this, so they get motivated to be fit. The benefit is that they’re fit, you’re saving carbon emissions, and you have healthy employees coming to the office. Also, I think it’s very important to have hybrid models where people can also work from home.”
Mobility is just one part of the equation. The real difficulty lies in how it’s tracked:
“Tracking Scope 3 is a challenge for everyone I talk to. I never heard someone that said, 'Oh, that was an easy thing to do.' Especially Scope 3 — it’s really one of the biggest challenges I have when I discuss with my peers. The challenge lies in not knowing how many times employees are coming to the office, if they come to the office, if they’re using public transportation, their bicycle, or their car. So that would be rather assumption-based. I know there are also different key metrics that you can use, and depending on which kind of methodology you're using. I think the big challenge is that many companies or organisations reporting on Scope 3 have different methodologies, different approaches, and different key metrics. That’s one of the biggest challenges.”
Rather than chase perfection, Nora focuses on engagement — and the bigger picture of building a consistent culture around sustainability:
“It's very, very important to educate people on the topic. And it's not one topic, so you need to constantly repeat your sustainability agenda and your intent or your purpose. What I always say is it's like the iPhone — it was also not invented in one day. It took a long time to develop, and I see it the same way with sustainability. Sustainability is something that is constantly developing, and as a company, you should show that you have leadership and the intention to live, act, and demonstrate sustainability.”
This internal alignment also plays out globally — in diverse, often complex cultural contexts. Nora’s experience leading strategy across JLL’s regions has made her particularly attuned to this:
“We have the J10 approach where we have frequent meetings. We have the leaders for every country and then we exchange, and I really enjoy this exchange. I never had the experience that it was something that’s not working — you always get insight into what’s going on in different countries, how they approach things from a sustainability perspective, but also a cultural understanding. For example, in Europe, we have a different understanding of plastic than people in the US, where using plastic glasses is very popular. They don’t have this kind of notion that plastic might be harmful — it’s just a different notion of how things are approached. That’s a very nice challenge in such a big company, to bring alignment. There are also different maturity levels. I implemented our global strategy in our EMEA countries, and when I did that back in 2020, the Netherlands was very mature when it came to renewable energy — the infrastructure was already there because the government supported it. In South Africa, there is no infrastructure. You can’t tell someone to buy an electric car if there’s nowhere to plug it in. We have this kind of exchange now on a monthly basis, and I enjoy them very much because I get a great overview of different countries’ notions and approaches. That makes it really rich to work in such a global organisation.”
The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of any company.
