At West Pender Property Group, we’re dedicated to providing premium office space for our tenants that support a shared vision of reducing the environmental footprint of our properties:

• We track our energy and water utility consumption and monitor consumption patterns.
• We regularly complete energy, water, and waste studies to identify efficiency opportunities.
• We implement energy and water efficiency projects that continue to improve building performance.
• We validate our efforts and benchmark against industry best practice by certifying through the BOMA BEST Building Certification Program.

Our Strategy

Our environmental sustainability strategy builds on our efforts across four key areas: Climate, Energy, Water, and Waste. We prioritize accountability and stakeholder engagement to ensure that the values of environmental sustainability are embedded across our organization and properties.

Our 2023 Performance Results

To measure our sustainability performance, West Pender Property Group maintains BOMA BEST Gold-level certification at each of our office properties. The BOMA BEST certification program provides property owners and managers with a consistent framework to assess and report on the performance and management of existing buildings, across a variety of sustainability aspects including energy and carbon, water, indoor air quality, accessibility and wellness, materials and waste, stakeholder engagement, and others. Gold-level certification is awarded to buildings that can demonstrate that they meet BOMA’s baseline Best Practices, as well as achieving 80-89% of the points available within the BOMA Best Questionnaire, demonstrating a high standard of performance.

Energy Use Intensity

Our most significant environmental impact arises from the greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) associated with energy consumed by our office buildings.  We measure our performance in this area by tracking the energy use intensity of our portfolio, which compares energy consumption as reported on our utility bills with the total floor area of our portfolio and takes into account differences in weather.  As of the end of 2023, our efforts to manage our energy use have resulted in a 26% reduction in energy use intensity compared to a 2015 baseline year.

Carbon Emissions Intensity

Based on the energy consumption of our office buildings, we also track the normalized greenhouse gas or carbon emissions intensity of our office portfolio, which compares the energy-related carbon emissions of our buildings to the total floor area of our portfolio, taking into account differences in weather. In 2023, the normalized carbon emissions intensity of the office portfolio was 1.8 kgCO₂e/ft², representing a 23% reduction in carbon emissions compared to 2015.

City of Vancouver’s GHGi Limits for Large Buildings

The City of Vancouver’s Annual Greenhouse Gas and Energy Limits By-Law requires building owners and managers to measure and report on energy use and related GHGs of large commercial buildings within the city. Starting in 2026 and building to 2040, large office buildings greater than 9,290 m² (100,000 ft²) will also be subject to GHG intensity (GHGi) limits of 25 kgCO₂e/m²/year for energy generated from fossil fuel combustion.

Based on their size, four of our office buildings will be subject to this 2026 limit. The combined GHGi for these four buildings is depicted in the graph below. We are actively developing decarbonization strategies to ensure that our buildings meet the City’s intensity limits in 2026 and beyond.

Our Plans for Progress

As we continue work to improve our performance, we are focused on the following goals:

1. Create a plan to decarbonize our largest buildings by 2040, in line with the City of Vancouver’s GHGi targets.
2. Continue to drive energy and water efficiencies in our operations.
3. Improve waste data and identify opportunities to reduce waste in our buildings.
4. Maintain BOMA BEST Gold level certification at our office properties.
5. Engage our team and our tenants in our sustainability efforts to support mutual goals.
6. Increase accountability and transparency by reporting on our progress towards our goals.