Building a Sustainable Workplace: How Deutsche Bank Uses Occupancy Intelligence to Reach Net Zero

Sustainability has become a top priority for organizations across the world, with many setting ambitious goals to reduce their environmental impact. Deutsche Bank is among those working toward a greener future, aiming to achieve a net-zero carbon footprint by 2050. But transforming an extensive 20-million-square-foot real estate portfolio – spanning 4,000 leases – into a sustainable, efficient operation is no small feat.

At the 5th Occupancy Intelligence Summit, Antonio Brunner shared how Deutsche Bank is leveraging real-time occupancy data to optimize space utilization, reduce energy consumption (delivering up to 30% savings on some days!,) and drive operational efficiencies – all while maintaining a high-quality employee experience. 

Here are five key takeaways from his session that highlight how data-driven insights are reshaping workplace sustainability strategies.

1. Aligning Real Estate Strategy with the Hybrid Work Model

Like many organizations, Deutsche Bank is navigating the shift to hybrid work. As they fully embraced a flexible model, they faced the need to right-size their real estate portfolio to align with employees' evolving needs.

“We initially actually thought that people would be coming into the office to collaborate. That’s going to be their main purpose, right? Data has actually shown that that is not the case. They come to the office to connect with other people but not necessarily to collaborate.” Brunner explained.

While many workplace leaders assumed collaboration was the primary driver for returning to the office, real-time occupancy data from VergeSense revealed a different reality – desk space remained the most utilized area. Armed with this data, Deutsche Bank's workplace team began making more informed decisions about the types of spaces employees actually need, rather than relying on assumptions.

Action Step: Evaluate how your organization is making workplace design decisions in the hybrid era. Are your workplace decisions based on real occupancy data, or are they driven by assumptions and anecdotal feedback?

2. Moving Beyond Badge Data for Workplace Insights

Meeting sustainability goals while maintaining a high standard for employee experience is central to Deutsche Bank’s workplace strategy. Initially, the company used badge data to track space utilization, but they soon recognized that building-level metrics alone weren’t sufficient. To drive meaningful change, they needed more granular, workspace-specific data.

To gain these deeper insights, Deutsche Bank deployed VergeSense occupancy intelligence in three of its four headquarters (Frankfurt, London, and New York) and five smaller sites across Europe. This shift allowed them to move beyond assumptions and have fact-based conversations with stakeholders, ensuring real estate decisions were driven by data rather than perception.

Action Step: If your organization is still relying on badge data or manual surveys to assess space utilization, consider integrating sensor-driven workplace intelligence to gain real-time, fact-based insights into how spaces are used.

3. Using Data to Optimize Cleaning and HVAC Operations

Occupancy intelligence is enhancing operational efficiencies at Deutsche Bank, enabling the company to reduce waste and energy consumption while maintaining service quality. 

By leveraging real-time occupancy data, the bank has optimized cleaning schedules, ensuring resources are allocated efficiently based on actual space utilization. This approach has led to significant cost savings while upholding high-quality cleaning services.

Additionally, Deutsche Bank introduced a pilot program that uses occupancy data to optimize workplace operations, including automating HVAC controls. By dynamically adjusting heating, cooling, and ventilation based on real-time usage, the initiative has achieved energy savings of more than 30% on certain days – all while maintaining employee comfort.

"We managed to achieve some significant cost reduction by using the utilization data that we collected with VergeSense, really targeting and pointing the cleaning staff to exactly which spaces actually have been used and needed cleaning and which ones haven't been used and didn't need cleaning. And that has resulted in some significant cleaning cost reductions, but without losing the quality of the cleaning services or impacting the employee experience." Brunner shared.

Action Step: Explore opportunities to integrate occupancy data into cleaning schedules and HVAC automation. Small operational changes can have a significant impact on cost savings and sustainability.

4. Addressing the Gap Between Perceived and Actual Space Utilization

One of the biggest challenges Deutsche Bank faced was the gap between how space was perceived to be used and how it was actually used. While some teams believed they needed more meeting rooms or workspaces, workplace leaders found that the data often told a different story. Rather than getting caught up in debates over the facts, they focused on having meaningful conversations about how to act on them, using data-driven insights to make more informed workplace decisions.

By analyzing real-time occupancy data, Deutsche Bank can now answer critical workplace questions with confidence. They can assess whether they have enough meeting rooms or need more, determine if phone booths and collaboration spaces are being used effectively, and design workplaces that better align with employee needs. These insights ensure that real estate decisions are grounded in data, preventing costly misallocations of space and resources.

Action Step: Conduct a detailed workplace utilization study to understand how employees are actually using spaces, not just how they are booked or perceived to be used.

5. Leveraging Technology to Accelerate the Path to Net Zero

As companies strive to reduce their carbon footprint, Brunner emphasized the importance of embracing bold, tech-driven strategies to optimize building operations.

As companies work toward reducing their carbon footprint, Brunner highlighted the need for a more forward-thinking approach. He emphasized that simply continuing past sustainability efforts won’t be enough to reach net-zero goals – organizations must embrace bold, tech-driven strategies to optimize building operations.

By integrating occupancy intelligence, Deutsche Bank is making smarter, data-backed decisions that support both cost efficiency and sustainability goals.

Action Step: Identify where technology and data can play a bigger role in your workplace sustainability strategy. From dynamic HVAC scheduling to smart cleaning operations, small data-driven changes can significantly accelerate progress toward environmental goals, reducing waste and optimizing resource efficiency.

A Data-Driven Future for Sustainable Workplaces

Deutsche Bank’s journey demonstrates that leveraging occupancy intelligence isn’t just about cutting costs – it’s about building a smarter, more sustainable, and more efficient workplace that aligns with both environmental and employee needs.

By harnessing the power of real-time data, organizations can move beyond guesswork, reduce waste, and create workplaces that are optimized for the way employees actually work today. Sustainability and efficiency go hand in hand – when organizations make data-backed decisions, they don’t just save money; they create better workplaces for employees and the planet.

Interested in learning how occupancy intelligence can help your organization reduce waste and optimize real estate? Set up a time to talk with a specialist about your workplace goals.