Brookfield Aiming for Zero-Emissions Electricity in DMV Portfolio By Next Year
The office landlord plans the same for its entire U.S. portfolio by 2026
By Keith Loria June 28, 2023 4:02 pm
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Brookfield (BN) Properties will transition its entire office portfolio in the Washington, D.C., region to be powered by zero-emissions electricity by 2024, the company announced.
Additionally, the New York-based developer plans to have its entire U.S. office portfolio switched over by 2026.
Brookfield currently manages the largest office portfolio in the D.C. region and is the largest commercial landlord in the nation with more than 70 million square feet of office space, according to the company.
To accomplish its clean energy goal goal, Brookfield will pay for locally produced zero-emissions electricity in the amount equivalent to the electricity needed to power its properties. For its properties in D.C. and Maryland, which include The Yards, Halley Rise and 655 New York Avenue, Brookfield will pay for electricity produced by nuclear power facilities equipped by Westinghouse Electric Corporation directly, through purchase power agreements, and receive the associated Energy Attribute Certificates.
For its properties in Northern Virginia, Brookfield will purchase the certificates from those same nuclear power facilities, rather than the electricity itself, because Virginia is a regulated energy market that limits direct power purchase agreements.
The combined contracts call for approximately 600,000 megawatt hours of electricity, or 100 percent of the electricity needed to power Brookield’s office buildings in the U.S. By making these changes, Brookfield will avoid the equivalent of more than 260,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent each year, and decrease its office portfolio’s direct carbon emissions by nearly 80 percent.
“Instead of taking incremental steps or waiting for others to act, we are completely transforming how we power office buildings throughout the United States,” Ben Brown, managing partner of Brookfield, said in a prepared statement.
“We are confident that both the increased demand for zero-emissions electricity it will create and the industry precedence it will set will be a game-changer for how state-of-the-art office buildings are powered throughout the country.”
In New York, Brookfield will purchase electricity generated from hydropower facilities located throughout New York State, as it has for its One Manhattan West tower. In Los Angeles, the company will facilitate the construction of a new solar power plant to supply 100 percent of the electricity for its office portfolio in the region.
Keith Loria can be reached at Kloria@commercialobserver.com.
