SL Green Signs On to Environmental Protection Agency Sustainability Program
By Carl Gaines April 26, 2012 8:30 am
reprintsNew York’s largest commercial real estate landlord, SL Green (SLG), is getting greener. The REIT signed an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reduce the environmental impact of the buildings that it manages.
Given the size of SL Green’s portfolio—which includes 77 office and retail buildings throughout New York tri-state—the environmental impact could be significant. Buildings like its recently acquired 10 East 53rd Street or 1515 Broadway would all be held to certain environmental standards.
“Buildings are responsible for almost 40 percent of total energy use nationwide and consume enormous amounts of other resources,” John Filippelli, director of EPA Region 2’s Division of Environmental Planning and Protection said in a release posted to the agency’s Web site.
“SL Green is showing that it takes conservation seriously. This agreement will help reduce operating costs for SL Green and its tenants while also helping to protect the environment.”
It turns out that the road to protecting the environment is a long one. Among the goals it has agreed to undertake, according to the EPA statement: clean construction equipment and clean fuel in specifications for its contractors, “green” landscaping activities designed to curb potable water use, the addition of “green” policies in its operating manuals, a reduction in food waste by tenants and vendors and the goal of a 10 percent energy reduction in each building.
Other area participants in the EPA program include Cushman & Wakefield (CWK), Bayonne Medical Center and the New York Mets.
