Grosvenor's North American property business has launched its Pathway to Net Zero, a reductions-first approach to help the company achieve a projected 42% decrease in carbon emissions, relative to a 2021 baseline year, by 2030 and reach Net Zero by 2050. 

The North American Net Zero Carbon Pathway directly supports Grosvenor’s ambition to reduce carbon emissions in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°C, building on and accelerating the organization’s progress in curbing its carbon footprint across its global business activities. 

In North America, the company has been actively working to reduce its environmental impact and has publicly reported its consumption and carbon emission reduction numbers for over a decade.

Grosvenor signed the World Green Building Council’s (WGBC) Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment in 2019 and has been reporting to the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), an independent group that tracks ESG progress across 2,200 companies, for three years. In 2023, Grosvenor maintained a strong 4 Green Star rating for its Development portfolio with a score of 91 placing it 12 points above its benchmark average. The Investment portfolio scored 77, a 12-point increase since the firm’s initial submission to GRESB in 2021.

“Our Pathway establishes an ambitious objective that reflects our long-term focus on responsible ownership and development of our properties,” said Steve O’Connell, CEO of Grosvenor’s North American urban property business. “Through lowering the carbon intensity of our properties, reducing the environmental impacts from our development activities, creating programs to help our tenants and suppliers reduce emissions, and establishing a carbon-focused corporate culture, we’re confident in our ability to support a climate resilient future while improving our portfolio value.”

The company’s North American Net Zero Pathway encompasses numerous activities designed to help the company deliver on the ambitions of Grosvenor’s carbon commitment to achieve the projected reduction in overall carbon emissions across its portfolio by 2030. Actions include:

• Deploying renewable, clean energy solutions to its buildings, including solar, wind and other energy saving technologies
• Using more green building materials and innovative technologies during construction and capital improvement projects
• Utilizing ultra-energy-efficient lighting, windows, and HVAC systems
• Developing programs to encourage its tenants and suppliers to reduce emissions

Tor Burrows, Grosvenor’s Group Sustainability Director, said “Our North American property business is focused on improving the overall performance of its assets, aligning and prioritizing reduction targets to focus on areas such as the supply chain, tenant spaces, and embodied carbon. The launch of this latest Pathway shows that many tools for success are already in place, such as internal green building standards and sustainable supply chain guidelines, which further underscores our determination to meet our shared global carbon reduction goals.”

Progress toward Net Zero within Grosvenor’s North American Development and Investment portfolios include:

• Brentwood Block in Burnaby, BC, is an 8-acre, pedestrian-focused masterplan that will bring 3,500 carbon-free homes to Metro Vancouver next to rapid transit. The project will exceed the City of Burnaby’s sustainability requirements and will meet Grosvenor’s global carbon ambition through efficient envelope design, low carbon systems and renewable energy. 
• Currently in design, 3300 Whitehaven is a nine-storey residential building with a focus on reducing embodied carbon. The project’s innovative post-and-beam mass timber structure has the potential to achieve a substantial reduction in the project’s overall embodied carbon footprint. By going this route, the structural system alone would eliminate up to 7,900 metric tonnes of carbon equivalent from the building’s carbon footprint, compared to buildings with conventional concrete structures.
• In San Jose, CA, Grosvenor completed a drought-resistant landscaping project at Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc.'s three-building office and R&D campus and is advancing a substantial solar panel array installation estimated to result in a 91 percent usage offset at two buildings and a 55 percent usage offset at the third.
• Ace in Berkeley, CA, features 163 residences powered by electric energy. Offering EV charging stations, electric ranges in all kitchens and enhanced public spaces, the project has achieved GreenPoint Rated Gold certification, California’s independent rating system based on healthy, energy-and resource-efficient residences. 

Tanja Milosevic Grosvenor’s Associate Vice President of Sustainability in North America commented: “Good governance, alongside social and environmental responsibility, is at our core and we will continue to focus on making positive contributions to the communities where we operate. Our Net Zero Carbon Pathway supports improvements to how we work with our tenants and suppliers, including seeking out opportunities to collaborate on emissions reduction tactics – an example of how we are shifting our business operations to better support a climate solution for a greener future.”

Read the Pathway here.