ARMONK,
N.Y and NEW YORK,
June 2,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today IBM (NYSE: IBM) and SL
Green Realty Corp. (NYSE: SLG), Manhattan's largest office landlord, announced
that SL Green is leveraging IBM sustainability software to help
advance their company's environmental, social and governance (ESG)
strategy. SL Green will use software from Envizi, an IBM Company,
to better understand and report on its environmental initiatives,
identify opportunities for greater efficiency and further drive
sustainability across its extensive real estate operations.
As the largest owner of office real estate in New York City, SL Green is focused on
effectively managing its portfolio of Manhattan commercial properties, with interest
in more than 70 buildings totaling 34.9 million square feet. In the
face of climate change and quickly evolving societal challenges, SL
Green is committed to a broad set of sustainability initiatives and
goals – from environmental efforts such as optimizing energy, water
and waste management, to sustainable development of new properties,
and programs to benefit the health and safety of both tenants and
the local community. In 2021, SL Green aligned with the Urban Land
Institute (ULI) Net Zero by 2050 goal of carbon neutral building
operations and remains committed to setting a Science-Based Target
for greenhouse gas emissions.
Having access to the right data is crucial for many
organizations to make meaningful progress toward their
sustainability goals but this data is often highly fragmented
across various formats and locations, making it difficult for all
relevant parties to leverage. In a recent IBM study, 44% of
surveyed CEOs cited "lack of insights from data" as a leading
challenge to achieving their sustainability objectives.1
In January, IBM acquired Envizi to offer organizations technology
to help streamline and automate their collection, analysis and
reporting of ESG data, with simplified dashboards and
visualizations that can make these insights more accessible to
stakeholders of all types.
"As the largest owner of office real estate in New York, we have been pioneers in ESG, taking
action to support the City's vital sustainability initiatives,"
said Laura Vulaj, Senior Vice
President & Director of Sustainability at SL Green. "Being
committed to making data-driven decisions has been a crucial
differentiator for us, and Envizi's advanced technology can enable
us to further streamline these initiatives in a transparent and
measurable way for our stakeholders."
Working with IBM, SL Green will use Envizi software as a service
(SaaS) to help manage and accelerate sustainability initiatives
across its portfolio. For example:
- Create a single system of record for sustainability and ESG
data: Envizi can help SL Green streamline the collection of
data from a wide range of sources such as utility data, renewable
energy certificates, waste data, business travel, purchased goods
and services, in order to provide all stakeholders with consistent
data for reporting, analysis and decision making – for example, to
support Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emission calculations.
- Analyze data to inform sustainability decision-making:
SL Green can apply Envizi's advanced analytics to transform this
data into insights on the performance of its portfolio, which can
help drive better decisions and meet sustainability goals. For
example, Envizi could help SL Green calculate greenhouse gas
emissions, set decarbonization targets and track progress towards
its emissions reduction goals.
- Streamline ESG and sustainability reporting: SL Green is
committed to transparent ESG disclosures and reports its
performance under a wide variety of ESG reporting frameworks
including CDP, SASB, TCFD, GRI, CSA (DJSI) and SBTi. Envizi's ESG
reporting capabilities can make it easier for SL Green to
streamline these reporting processes, with all reporting questions
and responses managed within a single software interface.
"The ability to transform widespread operational and
environmental data into insights that business leaders and
stakeholders can understand is a foundational step towards making
sustainability initiatives effective and scalable," said
Kareem Yusuf, Ph.D., General
Manager, IBM Sustainability Software. "By taking a 360-degree
approach, supported by connections between data, technologies and
processes, companies can operationalize sustainability initiatives
across their organization."
This collaboration between IBM and SL Green comes on the heels
of the recent announcement that IBM has signed on as an anchor
tenant for One Madison Avenue, SL Green's 1.4 million square foot,
state-of-the-art redevelopment scheduled for completion in
November 2023.
About SL Green
SL Green Realty Corp., Manhattan's largest office landlord, is a
fully integrated real estate investment trust, or REIT, that is
focused primarily on acquiring, managing and maximizing value of
Manhattan commercial properties.
As of December 31, 2021, SL Green
held interests in 73 buildings totaling 34.9 million square feet.
This included ownership interests in 26.9 million square feet of
Manhattan buildings and 7.1
million square feet securing debt and preferred equity
investments.
About IBM Sustainability
Software
IBM's extensive portfolio of AI software can help organizations
turn sustainability ambition into action. IBM is focused on helping
companies harness the power of data, connecting environmental,
social, and governance (ESG) goals with broader business operations
and systems – such as intelligent facilities and physical assets,
resilient IT infrastructure and circular supply chains. These
solutions are underpinned by environmental intelligence,
operational data, and AI, designed to transform disparate data
sources into insights that can help companies drive smarter,
sustainable decisions every day.
Media Contact Cassy Lalan, IBM Communications
cllalan@us.ibm.com
m: 319-230-2232
1 Source: IBM Institute for Business Value, CEO
Study: Own Your Impact, May 10,
2022
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SOURCE IBM