Iterum and ESG: My Summer Internship Experience

Iterum Trading Limited is a UK-based circular economy company that specialises in the management of household appliances for institutional residential sectors such as Build-to-Rent (BTR), student housing, single-family rentals, and co-living. Through its SaaS platform, Iterum IQ, the company helps landlords and operators optimise procurement, maintenance, and lifecycle management of appliances, reducing costs and environmental impact. By offering a Hardware-as-a-Service model and extending appliance lifespans by up to 40%, Iterum enables more sustainable asset management while delivering greater operational efficiency and measurable carbon savings.

This summer, Iterum invited me to join as an MBA intern to explore a critical question: how will upcoming ESG-related regulations affect their clients’ operations, and how can Iterum help them adapt? My work focused on analysing regulatory trends, frameworks, and certification systems that are reshaping how real estate investors and operators manage environmental performance.

Why ESG and scope 3 matter

In the BTR sector, up to 70–80% of operational emissions come from tenant energy use, categorised as Scope 3 emissions. Investors and regulators are increasingly focused on these indirect emissions, because they often represent the largest share of a building’s footprint. Properties that fail to measure and disclose them risk a “brown discount” — lower valuations, higher capital expenditure, and reduced access to finance. On the other hand, assets that demonstrate efficiency and transparent reporting can unlock green financing at better terms, avoid regulatory penalties, and capture a sustainability premium through higher demand and rents.

Frameworks such as GRESB, TCFD, and SFDR are making Scope 3 reporting increasingly unavoidable. These standards give investors consistent, comparable information on environmental performance, and they place emphasis on tenant-related energy use. While they don’t require landlords to track energy consumption for each individual appliance, they do expect accurate, verifiable data at the building or unit level. This pushes operators to move beyond estimates and adopt systems like sub-metering, digital monitoring, or smart devices that provide reliable measurements.

At the same time, certifications such as BREEAM, NABERS, and WELL reinforce these expectations by linking energy performance to asset value. BREEAM incentivises developers to design out waste from the start, for example, by selecting appliances in the top quartile of efficiency. NABERS takes a performance-based approach, rating buildings on actual energy use rather than design projections, which helps close the “performance gap.” Meanwhile, WELL and Fitwel bring in the social dimension of ESG, connecting environmental efficiency with health, comfort, and tenant satisfaction. Together, these frameworks and certifications are driving a market where sustainability is not optional; it is central to competitiveness.

Iterum’s strategic role

What makes Iterum’s model so relevant is its ability to translate these regulatory and investor pressures into practical solutions for landlords and operators.

• Procurement Advisory – Iterum can help clients select energy-efficient, compliant appliances that align with ESG frameworks. This not only supports certification and avoids future retrofit costs, but also improves asset valuations and tenant demand.
• SaaS-Based Scope 3 Reporting – Through its platform, Iterum can expand into providing metrics and analytics on tenant energy use, giving landlords tools such as
  • Carbon Value at Risk – estimating exposure to carbon pricing or taxes.
  • Stranded Asset Risk – identifying properties at risk of becoming non-compliant.
  • Scope 3 Intensity Benchmarks – emissions per square metre for comparison and target-setting.
  • CapEx Risk Forecasts – projecting costs needed to maintain compliance as standards tighten.

ESG and data strategy

One of the key areas where I contributed during my internship was helping Iterum design a data-driven ESG strategy. At its core, the challenge for landlords and investors is that they cannot manage what they cannot measure. While ESG regulations demand reporting on Scope 3 emissions and embodied carbon, most operators lack a reliable data infrastructure that ties appliance-level characteristics to portfolio-level emissions.

To address this, I started building a comprehensive appliance dataset combining information from the EPREL European database and the Which? UK consumer testing datasets. Together, these sources cover more than 100,000 appliances across categories like washing machines, fridges, ovens, hoods, and dishwashers. They include key variables such as:

• Energy efficiency ratings and consumption levels
• Dimensions, volumes, and technical performance indicators
• Warranty periods and manufacturer details
• Price ranges, retailer availability, and expert test scores

This integrated dataset allows Iterum and its clients to benchmark appliances across brands and categories, link procurement choices to actual energy performance, and evaluate long-term carbon impacts. Beyond operational emissions, the data can also be used to estimate embodied carbon; the carbon footprint of manufacturing, transporting, and disposing of appliances — a dimension that is rapidly gaining importance in ESG reporting.

Building on this data, I also worked on the concept of a software tool that Iterum could deploy for its clients. The tool would simulate different portfolio scenarios, enabling landlords to:

• Predict capital expenditure by modelling appliance lifespans and expected breakage rates by type and brand.
• Estimate total embodied carbon across portfolios, helping investors understand how procurement decisions affect long-term sustainability.
• Calculate operational emissions based on energy consumption patterns, appliance efficiency, and the carbon intensity of the grid in each region.
• Compare scenarios across portfolios. For example, assessing how replacing older models with high-efficiency appliances would impact both emissions and financial performance over time.

Such a tool would not only make ESG compliance easier but also transform Iterum into a strategic advisor for its clients. By connecting procurement, maintenance, and data analytics, Iterum can help landlords make better investment decisions today while protecting asset value against tomorrow’s regulations.

Looking ahead

My internship has shown me how Iterum is uniquely positioned to evolve from an appliance services company into a strategic ESG partner for real estate. By combining deep appliance expertise with robust datasets and smart analytics, the company can provide clients with the tools to measure emissions, forecast costs, and future-proof their portfolios.

 On a personal note, working on this project was an exciting and inspiring experience — not only because of the technical challenges, but also because it showed me how data and strategy can directly support sustainability goals in the real estate sector.  

I leave with the conviction that Iterum’s approach is both innovative and necessary, and I am grateful to have contributed to a mission that aligns financial performance with environmental responsibility.

This internship experience was supported by the INSEAD Hoffmann Institute Impact Internship Stipend.