PropertyGuru Group Limited (listed on the New York Stock Exchange NYSE: PGRU), hereafter referred to as "PropertyGuru" or "the Company", is a leading real estate technology company in Southeast Asia 1, known as "PropTech", and the parent company of two of Thailand's leading real estate platforms: DDproperty, the number one real estate platform in Thailand, and thinkofliving.com, a top property project review website in Thailand. The company has launched "Gurus for Good", its sustainability strategy, and published its first annual sustainability report for the year 2023, developed from PropertyGuru's data and analysis to support informed decision-making for a sustainable future and provide valuable solutions to communities while addressing environmental and social challenges through innovative solutions and responsible business practices.

The strategy encompasses a holistic view of the most significant challenges and opportunities for stakeholders both within and outside PropertyGuru, as identified in the assessment of key sustainability topics conducted in 2023. This assessment lays the foundation for three pillars of the strategy: Sustainable Living, Thriving Communities, and Responsible Business. These three principles guide PropertyGuru's decision-making with data-driven insights and actions that benefit both the business and the community.

Sustainable Living leverages PropertyGuru's deep expertise in the real estate business, combined with the company's data and analysis to promote a sustainable future for communities through Thriving Communities, which the group emphasizes by striving to create all products through an accessible design system and a policy against all forms of discrimination. As a Responsible Business, the group operates under a diverse framework concerning privacy, security, ethics, and legal compliance.

Ms. Diya Gokengka Das, Chief Marketing Officer of PropertyGuru Group, highlighted the launch of the Gurus For Good strategy, stating: “We have been prioritizing sustainability for several years because we know it is the right thing to do, not only for our industry but for the communities in which we operate. We are now formalizing our approach, emphasizing the three core strategies that make up 'Gurus For Good'. This strategy integrates our past and present sustainability initiatives into a holistic framework that will guide our operations moving forward.”

Key Highlights from the Gurus For Good Strategy and Sustainability Report

Climate Action Responsibility

  • The real estate sector is responsible for approximately 40% of global carbon dioxide emissions, thus playing a crucial role in climate action. As a regional market leader, PropertyGuru is committed to supporting these efforts by actively working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or GHG footprint
  • In 2023, PropertyGuru assessed its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to better understand its environmental impact. Key areas evaluated included business travel, cloud services, and employee commuting and remote work practices.
  • Identifying the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions, such as business travel and cloud services, allows for prioritizing pollution reduction efforts, paving the way for a more sustainable future for all communities.

Building Communities for Everyone

  • At PropertyGuru, the concept of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) is not just a strategic mandate but a natural outcome of a fair and transparent recruitment process. The goal is to create a platform where everyone can succeed, reflecting a commitment to building a diverse and inclusive workplace for all.
  • PropertyGuru takes pride in its diverse workforce spread across 5 countries, representing over 35 nationalities. In terms of gender diversity, the group has a female employee ratio of 63% at the corporate level, 43% at the executive level, and 33% at the board level.
  • PropertyGuru is committed to combating discrimination in all forms, with various practices including strict advertising guidelines, language filtering tools, and the 'Report Ad' feature, which significantly reduces discrimination and promotes a more open real estate market.

Data-Driven Solutions for a Sustainable Future

  • The Liveability Index by PropertyGuru Group, a pilot project in Malaysia, provides insights into neighborhood quality of life by considering factors such as housing affordability, amenities, environment, transportation access, and job opportunities. This helps residents make informed decisions and supports the work of urban planners and property developers.
  • PropertyGuru conducts climate risk assessments by integrating satellite imagery with complex modeling. This assessment identifies risks from flooding, storms, extreme heat, and other severe weather events for all locations under various climate scenarios and timeframes. This analysis is particularly critical in Malaysia, where recurring flooding poses significant risks.
  • With access to insights on these climate risks, PropertyGuru's clients will better understand the impacts of climate change on their projects and properties, enabling informed decisions to mitigate risks, support future-ready developments, and enhance their investment strategies.

Connecting the Dots Towards Sustainability through Thai Gurus

In Thailand, PropertyGuru has effectively passed on its sustainability foundation to its subsidiary DDproperty through policies focused on sustainable corporate development both internally and externally, encouraging staff to recognize the importance of sustainability in various dimensions. This begins with basic activities that promote behavioral changes in daily life, such as energy-saving policies in the office to encourage everyone to value water and electricity, using food waste digesters to convert waste into compost to help reduce methane emissions that contribute to greenhouse gas effects. Additionally, the company drives its sustainability mission through various eco-friendly and community support activities, such as:

  • Creating Challenges to reduce single-use plastic, encouraging everyone to start their eco-friendly missions easily by challenging themselves to change their behaviors and inviting them to use reusable water bottles and food containers.
  • Inviting Gurus in Thailand to compete in the Challenges to combat global warming with other countries by using the Carbon Footprint tracking application to engage everyone in reducing greenhouse gas emissions through monitoring activities that may generate greenhouse gases in daily life.
  • Allowing all Gurus to choose to take 3 days off per year for volunteering or community service activities to help society or the environment based on their interests.
  • Meanwhile, DDproperty continuously organizes social and environmental activities to allow staff to spend time engaging in these good activities together, with a variety of activity formats, such as beach clean-up events on Earth Day, environmental conservation and mangrove planting activities, or donating lunch and school supplies to underprivileged children in foundations and non-profit organizations, while also providing opportunities for children to practice martial arts with professional coaches.

The company continues to prioritize its employees by implementing a continuous Hybrid work policy, allowing employees to choose to work from either the office or home according to their personal lifestyles, promoting employee well-being and improving work-life balance.

These initiatives align with PropertyGuru's efforts to create a culture of trust and promote a safe space for everyone, as we believe that well-being and quality of life in the organization will support Gurus in developing better innovations and services for all users and contribute to driving communities towards living, working, and developing into future cities.

For more information, you can download PropertyGuru's annual sustainability report for 2023 here