In a recent webinar hosted by Nareit, experts shared insights on the main themes of their companies' sustainability programs, including their approaches to industry advocacy, education, and leadership initiatives.
The discussion was moderated by Nareit’s Jessica Long, and featured insights from leading experts: Aaron Binkley, VP of sustainability at Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR); Tamara Chernomordik, VP of corporate responsibility at Kimco Realty (NYSE: KIM); and Ethan Gilbert, director of ESG at Prologis, Inc. (NYSE: PLD).
The panel highlighted the shift from voluntary sustainability reporting to mandatory regulatory compliance, emphasizing evolving sustainability disclosure requirements in the EU, California, Australia, and Singapore. They discussed how REITs are integrating sustainability with financial reporting, hiring sustainability specialists, and preparing for audit-ready disclosures. Industry-wide efforts focus on landlord-tenant collaboration and adapting to building performance standards that require granular, asset-level data collection.
Webinar participants stressed the importance of staying informed through trade associations and working closely with internal teams to meet regulatory expectations, while driving efficiency and cost savings.
Binkley highlighted challenges in obtaining utility data, noting that “the utility only sees accounts and they only see meters,” which complicates compliance with building performance standards. He emphasized the need for collaboration between stakeholders to navigate evolving regulations.
Gilbert discussed sustainability initiatives at Prologis, stating that “there is a significant appetite from customers to take advantage of a number of sustainability solutions,” including solar energy and electric fleet infrastructure.
Throughout the webinar, the speakers highlighted several critical takeaways that professionals should consider implementing in their own organizations, including how:
- Industry associations play a role in communicating real estate challenges to legislators.
- Expanding solar and EV infrastructure can create business opportunities.
- Tenants have diverse sustainability priorities, including supply chain and circularity.
- Data center customers increasingly demand 100% renewable energy.
- Companies are engaging suppliers to track and reduce carbon emissions.
- The construction sector is responding to demand for lower-carbon materials, particularly in concrete manufacturing.
The speakers also discussed the importance of stakeholder engagement in supply chains, emphasizing collaboration with tenants and varied strategies for different business models. The conversation also included energy challenges, particularly for data centers, which face growing power demands due to AI and other factors. Securing clean and reliable energy requires proactive planning, longer lead times, and creative problem-solving, such as utility partnerships and on-site solutions, the panelists said.
The webinar concluded with a discussion on proactive climate risk management, regulatory compliance, and AI-driven efficiency improvements. Chernomordik emphasized the importance of pre-established relationships with first responders and vendors: “If we’re just opening the phone book, once a disaster hits, then it’s…going to take a much longer time.”
To watch the webinar on-demand, please register here.