Prologis made significant progress in 2017 toward meeting sustainability goals with the theme of resilience playing a large role, according to the 2017 Prologis Sustainability Report. This report marks the 10th consecutive year of reporting to Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines and the Construction and Real Estate (CRE) Sector Disclosures.
2017 saw communities across the globe face the environmental, social and economic costs of weather-related disruptions and disasters. Although Prologis had $2 billion in assets in various regions in the firing line of the year’s extreme weather events, these building were remarkably resilient and incurred negligible damage, meaning customers experienced no significant interruptions to their businesses.
Behind this resilience lies Prologis’ environmental stewardship, social responsibility and governance (ESG) programs, which all contribute to the long-term sustainability of the company’s projects across the world. Sustainability is part of Prologis’ DNA. Only by pursuing new technologies and forward-thinking business practices actively can the company deliver the kind of long-term value that stakeholders demand.
“Our ESG program is good business, benefiting our customers, investors, communities and employees. We have been and will continue to be forward looking when it comes to ESG, as this is key to helping ourselves and our customers stay ahead of what’s next,” says Hamid Moghadam, Prologis chairman and CEO.
At Prologis, ESG is integral and essential to business. To advance environmental stewardship, it provides customers with modern, sustainable buildings; to support social responsibility, employees partner with customers and investors; to ensure strong governance, the company works continuously to communicate with transparency, as well as identify and mitigate risks.
In the 2017 report, Prologis details the significant progress made toward meeting sustainability goals:
- 10 megawatts of solar installations were added to the portfolio, increasing total generating capacity to 175 megawatts, well on track to achieve 200 megawatts of solar capacity by 2020.
- 82 percent of the operating portfolio had energy-efficient lighting as of year-end 2017, moving the company closer to a goal of 100 percent energy-efficient lighting throughout the portfolio.
- 40 percent of the operating portfolio now has cool or reflective roofing.
- The 2020 corporate greenhouse gas emissions reduction target was met four years early, and Prologis is in the process of finalizing science-based targets.
Resilient and sustainable by design
Prologis integrates energy- and water-reduction technologies into its buildings, developing brownfield and infill sites, and pursuing certification for buildings where available. Notable successes in 2017 include the highest level of BREEAM certification awarded to the build-to-suit facility at Prologis Park Prague-Rudna, making it the first logistics facility in the Czech Republic and the second building of this type in all of Central and Eastern Europe to receive a rating of “Outstanding.”
Energy-saving innovations
Coming up with innovative solutions for the production, consumption, storage and measurement of energy provides Prologis with the opportunities to test and scale new sustainable solutions for its customers.
Consumption monitoring: Using tools to monitor and manage energy consumption, Prologis reported that 3,604 of its global assets demonstrated an 8.9 percent decrease in use in 2017, which in turn decreased emissions by 4 percent.
Smart meters: Building on a successful pilot project in Central and Eastern Europe, Prologis is introducing smart meters for electricity, gas and water at parks across the world while partnering with software developers to create technology associated with the metering. In 2017, smart metering for utilities became available across 100 percent of the Prologis portfolio in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Solar power: Prologis was among the first in the logistics industry to invest in rooftop solar. In 2017, Prologis added 10 megawatts of solar capacity to its portfolio, bringing the total to 175 megawatts in nine countries, which is enough clean energy to power 26,000 average U.S. homes each year.
Pioneering green technologies
Prologis’ track record of industry-leading innovation is nowhere more apparent than in its global portfolio of green technology and business process projects, which includes a pilot project at Park Budapest-Harbor with Platio, a Hungarian startup that produces solar paving systems. These green efforts help to ensure that Prologis and its customers stay ahead of what’s next.
Promoting biodiversity
Biodiversity is integral to sustainability, so Prologis works to ensure the health of plants and wildlife in and around its parks. By focusing on infill redevelopment, often with legacy contamination issues, biodiversity is supported in two key ways: (1) cleanup of potentially harmful ecosystem contaminants, and (2) recycling of land. Thus, all new developments are subject to rigorous environmental permitting processes, including evaluation of sensitive habitats and protected species. An example of protecting biodiversity can be seen at four Prologis facilities near Paris, where beehives produced about 600 jars of honey that was distributed to customers in the summer of 2017.
A good neighbor that is socially engaged
Prologis strives to be a good neighbor because strong relationships where employees live and work increase communities’ receptivity to growth and development, which enables the company to better serve customers. Prologis’ worldwide 2017 IMPACT Day, when employees give back to the communities in which they live and work, saw 1,304 employees volunteer for a total of 8,383 hours, serving 36 NGOs.
Inclusion and diversity
At Prologis, inclusion and diversity (I&D) is a core strategy. To operate and expand effectively, Prologis is unwavering in the belief that it must recruit, develop and grow the best available talent. In 2017, Prologis changed its compensation structure to include I&D as a bonus metric. At the board level, the compensation committee was renamed the Talent and Compensation Committee and its charter amended to include an emphasis on I&D. Committed to increasing success with I&D, Prologis created recruiting ambassadors to reflect its diversity to potential employees.
In 2017, for the ninth consecutive year, Prologis was named to Corporate Knights’ annual list of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World, ranking in the top 50 at 44th place, up from 83rd in 2016. Maintaining a position on the list for nine years and moving up in the rankings in a competitive environment is a testament to Prologis’ enduring commitment to sustainable design and responsible development.
Prologis will never rest on its laurels, however, and is always looking to see what the company can do next—how to further advance its recognized global leadership position in the industry. “As proud as I am of our past accomplishments, I’m even more energized about the efforts we have planned for the years to come. We are always thinking about how we can do better—this year, next year and next decade,” says Moghadam.
You can find the full Prologis Sustainability Report 2017 here.