Real estate franchise LJ Hooker has partnered with Bond University to produce degree-qualified real estate agents with “green” expertise as part of a sustainability drive.

The LJ Hooker network, which consists of 690 franchises in Australia and New Zealand, has been operating for more than 80 years.

LJ Hooker prides itself on its commitment to sustainable practices across the company through the participation of its corporate staff, its partners and its franchise offices.

In addition to forming the LJ Hooker Green Guerillas, which helps the company achieve its green targets, the company has launched an initiative called The 3Ps Program.

The program encourages each franchise office to identify and achieve its own sustainability objectives by reducing the usage of power, paper and petrol.

In its latest attempt to get green, LJ Hooker has teamed up with Bond University in what chief executive Leslie Janusz Hooker describes as a “strategic industry partnership”.

“This partnership is a long-term investment in helping the next generation of agents and consumers develop an invaluable understanding of the current trends and behaviours of property owners and investors,” Hooker said in a statement.

LJ Hooker says that franchisees will benefit in three ways:

Improved professionalism

“One of my goals is to improve the professionalism of the real estate industry,” Hooker said.

“LJ Hooker will produce degree-qualified agents with invaluable expertise of the growing importance of sustainability, energy efficiency and the impact on real estate.”

Research collaboration

The program will be delivered through Bond University’s Institute of Sustainable Development and Architecture, led by Dr George Earl, who is also a professor of real estate.

Earl says the collaboration between LJ Hooker and Bond University will fund research that investigates issues relating to the Australian property market, including housing affordability.

Knowledge on green initiatives

“In recent years, organisations have been implementing responsible and practical sustainability management initiatives into their practices,” Earl says.

“At the institute, we are partnering with LJ Hooker to establish executive pathway education programs and research collaboration initiatives in the areas of sustainability and real estate.”

“Working with LJ Hooker [will enables us] to provide degree-qualified agents and franchise owners who have the potential of lifting the bar to offer superior service and knowledge of the industry to their clients.”