Q2 2022
Celebrating Our Earth
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April 22nd marked the 52nd annual Earth Day celebration, honoring the beauty of our planet and the need to protect its invaluable resources. Earth Day’s 2022 theme “Invest in our Planet” encouraged everyone to play their role, big and small, by using their voice, making commitments, and taking action to create a more regenerative society and biodiverse world.
Verdani celebrated by hosting a hybrid in-person/virtual luncheon on Earth Day and team members plogged to pick up trash on trails. On April 28th, we also delivered a webinar covering the essentials of ESG for commercial real estate (CRE), about how it impacts organizations and what attendees can do to be more sustainable in their own lives (recording here). Earlier, on March 26th, we also encouraged our employees and clients to participate in the global Earth Hour event that engaged people in 192 countries by turning off their electronics and lights for one hour to reflect on nature and the value of biodiversity.
Below you’ll see our company updates, our industry insights, and highlights of our clients’ Earth celebrations, which provided an opportunity to educate tenants, give back, and honor nature.
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VERDANI CULTURE
Purposeful & Rewarding Opportunities in ESG
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While momentum in the market is accelerating around corporate ESG, the Verdani team and our founder and CEO, Daniele Horton, have been leading ESG in the commercial real estate sector for over two decades, driving full service ESG reporting, strategy and solutions in the built environment. We are excited to have grown our team by 93% over the past two years, and our new strategic partnerships and global alliances have positioned us to hire anywhere in the world!
Scroll down to learn about our many open career opportunities.
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93%
two-year company growth
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Read insights about our company culture:
Verdani Partners' Culture: Providing the Opportunity to Do Meaningful Work
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CLIENT UPDATES
Coast to Coast Earth Day Celebrations
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ARA 's Foundry Square III commemorated Earth Day with a beehive display.
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Other client Earth Day activities included the following:
- The Howard Hughes Corporation celebrated by hosting events at all of their communities, such as Earth Day GreenUp at The Woodlands, which engaged the community to clean up and restore pathways, waterways, and greenbelts
- PGIM Real Estate hosted Earth Day events around the globe, from succulent giveaways, to e-waste drives and trash cleanups
- GID's Perimeter Center office property held an e-waste drive, collecting items such as monitors, smart phones and keyboards
- CommonWealth Partners properties shared a memo with sustainability tips, posted graphics about Earth Day and held lobby events focused on topics such recycling, e-waste, waste sorting and composting
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CLIENT UPDATES
Welcome, New Clients!
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EastGroup Properties (NYSE: EGP) is a self-administered equity real estate investment trust focused on the development, acquisition and operation of industrial properties in major Sunbelt markets throughout the United States with an emphasis in the states of Florida, Texas, Arizona, California and North Carolina. Visit their website.
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Fairfield is a privately held multifamily real estate owner, operator and developer based in San Diego, CA. As one of the largest vertically integrated multifamily real estate companies in the United States, Fairfield is a leading provider of acquisition, entitlement, development, construction, renovation, property and asset management and disposition services across a broad spectrum of investment strategies. Visit their website.
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CLIENT UPDATES
ESG Initiatives
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Trex uses hard-to-recycle plastics to create products such as decks and outdoor furniture
Verdani clients have been active in the early part of 2022, continuing to innovate with new ESG initiatives and progressing against their impact targets.
The Howard Hughes Corporation (HHC) Engages in Upcycling Program in Houston’s Bridgeland Community
HHC’s Bridgeland community is partnering with Trex, a company that makes synthetic wood materials out of reclaimed sawdust and single-use plastics, which are notoriously difficult to recycle and rarely accepted by municipal recycling facilities.
Through July 1, residents and community members can take their plastic waste such as plastic bags, bubble wrap and cereal bags to six different collection sites around Bridgeland to be incorporated into Trex products such as decks, fencing and outdoor furniture. HHC plans to incorporate Trex furniture at its properties for community use.
Additional client highlights Include:
- PCCP recently completed their ESG Visioning Survey and Materiality Assessment
- PGIM Real Estate implemented two pilot Green Property Condition Assessment (Green PCA) sites in the U.S. with Nova Group, GBC, a leading real estate due diligence firm providing environmental, engineering and sustainability services
- PGIM Real Estate is also conducting an industrial and self-storage onsite renewable energy pilot
- GID has begun offering employees access to the BetterUp Health program, which provides coaching for employees to help with professional growth, stress management, and more
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INDUSTRY NEWS
IPCC & SEC Dominate Conversations
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In the world of ESG, no two stories have dominated the landscape so far in 2022 more than the IPCC report on climate change and the SEC’s announcement of proposed climate-related disclosure requirements.
The IPCC report gives us a clear mandate: act now and drastically reduce carbon emissions to avoid the dire consequences of climate change. For the commercial real estate industry, this means implementing efficiency projects, choosing retrofits over new construction, supporting electrification and renewable energy, and supporting biodiversity.
The proposed SEC requirements aim to create transparency and accountability around companies’ carbon footprints and plans to reduce emissions as well as mitigate climate risk. While our clients are well-positioned to meet the proposed requirements, the next couple of years will be critical for refining strategies on scope 3 emissions reporting, data verification, and ensuring all risks, targets, plans and progress are ready to be shared.
Read Verdani Insights about the SEC rules and IPCC report:
SEC Proposed Climate Disclosure Rules- Part 1: What, Why and How?
SEC Proposed Climate Disclosure Rules Part 2: Is Your Organization Ready to Report?
2021 IPCC Climate Change Report: Impacts and Actions for Real Estate
Past Event: ESG ‒ Environmental, Social, Governance Proposed SEC Rules on Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors. On April 27th, Verdani CEO Daniele Horton participated in a Duane Morris webinar series panel alongside Brad A. Molotsky (Duane Morris LLP), Chris Pyke (Arc Skoru & Green Building Council), and Will Teichman (Kimco Realty) to discuss the SEC's proposed new rules and to support claims of a date by which to be carbon neutral.
We will continue to keep you apprised of the SEC’s decision and its implications, as well as other reporting updates and ESG trends that emerge.
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INDUSTRY NEWS
Biodiversity Gaining Recognition in CRE
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Biodiversity, the diversity within and between species and ecosystems, is an essential component of life on Earth. According to the World Economic Forum, the built environment is responsible for 30% of biodiversity loss globally. As ESG leaders in commercial real estate, we have not only a significant role to play but an extraordinary opportunity to halt biodiversity loss, regenerate nature, and design more nature-positive business models. Property-level strategies to consider include:
- Implementing sustainable landscaping practices
- Planting locally native plants
- Eliminating use of pesticides
- Using electric maintenance equipment
- Installing high-efficiency irrigation systems
- Minimizing stormwater runoff
In addition, biodiversity is increasingly gaining recognition amongst ESG reporting frameworks. The new Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), as well as existing frameworks such as SASB, S&P Global CSA (Corporate Sustainability Assessment), GRESB and CDP currently include guidance for companies to set goals and track progress towards improving and maintaining biodiversity. Many of the reporting frameworks such as GRESB, GRI, and SBTi, are currently in the process of updating their questionaries to expand their biodiversity components.
Schedule a call with Verdani for a deeper conversation on utilizing these biodiversity and ESG reporting strategies for your portfolio.
Finally, celebrate biodiversity at events such as:
Read Verdani's Insights about biodiversity and CRE:
Biodiversity Part 1: The Built Environment's Blind Spot
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VIBE UPDATES
Earth's Climate Heroes Expands its Reach in 2022
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Verdani employee Earth Day activities featuring readings of Earth's Climate Heroes in Los Angeles (Julie Jacobson) and Norfolk, VA (Kate Brushkin) and an elementary school event in Berkeley (Jessica Loeper) where students were invited to share their climate hero commitments.
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VIBE, Verdani’s nonprofit organization, hit the ground running in 2022 to spread sustainability education and build the next generation of climate heroes.
VIBE offered its children’s e-book, Earth’s Climate Heroes, for free on Amazon on “Read Across America” Day in March and “Earth Day” in April. A local Los Angeles school district recently purchased copies of the book for its schools and enjoyed a virtual reading from its author and our CEO, Daniele Horton.
The book’s impact continues to expand through our partnership with Ecologi to plant trees for every book sold, and soon, we will publish a Portuguese translated version of the book on Amazon in Brazil.
VIBE also commemorated Earth Day with Verdani team members providing in-person and virtual readings, sharing the new Teachers Curriculum, and launching the global map of kids taking actions in their own communities. Here are some things you can do to support Earth's Climate Heroes:
Add your child's climate hero actions to the Map
Purchase the Earth's Climate Heroes book on Amazon
Learn more about VIBE's initiatives at our website www.verdani-institute.org
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VIBE UPDATES
VIBE Book Series Underway
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We continue to make progress on our educational book series that will provide in-depth learning and insights into ESG topics that matter most in the CRE industry. We are thrilled that our first book, Introduction to Sustainable Real Estate, is sponsored by LORD Green Strategies. We are seeking sponsors for the 11 other books in the series. Click here to visit VIBE's website and get in touch using the “Contact Us” form if you are interested in sponsoring!
Special thanks goes to our VIBE team and volunteers for their hard work on bringing these books to life, especially Nolan De Jesus, Shawn Hoffman, George Cortez, Carolina Guzman, Lenah Lankhaar, Hannah Apple, Leora Cooper, and Abbey Serio. Click here to learn more about the team.
If you are interested in volunteering to support VIBE’s efforts, click here.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Webinars & Conferences
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GRESB Reporting Strategies & Best Practices - May 12, 12pm PT
Join us for another Verdani ESG Essentials webinar to learn more about GRESB reporting strategies and best practices. The session will consist of a 45-minute presentation on the importance of GRESB, an overview of the GRESB assessment, and strategies for addressing GRESB questions, followed by a 15-min Q&A period.
The webinar will be hosted by Verdani Partners CEO Daniele Horton and Senior ESG Manager Seth Kamphoefner, along with our very special guest, Dan Winters, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives at GRESB. The event will be moderated by Verdani Partners ESG Director Dana Weiss.
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ULI: Resilient Retrofits - Existing Buildings and Physical Climate Risk - May 13, 10am PT
As climate change accelerates, risks to real estate are intensify, resilient building retrofits can provide solutions for buildings of all types and sizes. Join Verdani CEO Daniele Horton and Ibrahim Almufti (Arup), Mary Witucki (FEMA) and Clay Haynes (One Public Square) to learn about strategies and considerations for resilient retrofit designers, policymakers, and finance professionals that can be applied within real estate portfolios large and small.
Learn more and register here
USGBC-Los Angeles: My Green Building Conference & Expo - May 20-21
CEO Daniele Horton and ESG Director Dana Weiss will be presenting with Stacy Smedley, Director of Sustainability at Skanska on "Building the Plane Mid-Flight: How to Begin your Net Zero Commitment." Meet and greet with Verdani and VIBE team members at their booth at the event's Community Day.
Learn more here
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VERDANI UPDATES
Career Opportunities
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Verdani has made many new hires since the beginning of the year across all of our departments. As our clients continue to expand their programs, we are excited to grow along with them and bring new talent to our team. Since the beginning of 2022 we have hired 17 new team members!
We remain in a highly active hiring mode, with several openings, including:
- ESG Manager (U.S.)
- ESG Manager (London)
- ESG Manager (Singapore)
- ESG Coordinator
- Energy Engineer
- Junior Energy Engineer
- Sustainability Analyst
- Senior ESG Data Manager
- ESG Data Analyst
- Director of Technical Services
- Communications Writer/Manager
- Certifications Coordinator
- Operations Manager
Please visit https://www.verdani.com/culture-careers to learn more about our open positions. We welcome referrals!
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