Prologis Has Shared Goals for Sustainability

Aaron Binkley, director of sustainability programs with Prologis (NYSE: PLD), joined REIT.com for a video interview at NAREIT’s 2013 Leader in the Light Working Forum in La Quinta, Calif.

Prologis won a 2012 Leader in the Light Award in the industrial category. Binkley discussed the key ingredients in developing a well-regarded sustainability program.

“The key goal for us is to make sure we have the right resources and the right people with the right message, marching toward a common goal,” he said.

Binkley described the challenges of implementing a sustainability program in a global organization.

“I think making sure that everyone is on the same page with the goals that the company has and how we communicate them, and how we deliver that value to our customers,” he said. “It can be relayed a little bit differently from one market to the other, but I think as long as the goals are clear, it can be done effectively.”

Binkley also discussed how the company measures the success of its sustainability initiatives.

“We measure in three areas,” he said. “One is sustainable development activity, the second is energy efficiency improvements to our operating portfolio and the third is renewable energy. We’ve been able to make continued progress in each of those three areas.”

Binkley also talked about how the company promotes its successes, as well as the response from its shareholders.

“We reach out to customers and make sure they understand the value of what an energy efficient building delivers for them,” he said. “In turn, we do the same thing with our investors and we communicate those advantages to owning more efficient and more sustainable buildings.”

Binkley described an initiative that best illustrates what he is doing at Prologis.

“I think the area where we’ve seen the most progress is our energy-efficiency improvements within the operating portfolio,” he said. “285 million square feet of our operating portfolio has received an energy-efficiency improvement – that’s about half our portfolio on a global basis.”

Binkley said the next stage or evolution of sustainability practices is “net zero buildings.”

“I think it’s a ways off before we’re impacted by it, but it’s an exciting opportunity,” he said.