All New Duke Realty Developments Will Be LEED Certified

Duke Realty Corporation (NYSE:DRE), the largest domestic-only, pure-play logistics property REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) in the United States, has announced that, starting in 2020, it will develop only LEED®-certified buildings going forward as part of its commitment to helping lessen the environmental impact its buildings have on our world.

LEED® ‒ an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design™ ‒ is a registered trademark of the U.S. Green Building Council®, and LEED certification is an independent, third-party verification that a building project meets the highest performance standards and has been designed and built using strategies intended to result in energy savings, water efficiency, reduced CO2 emissions, improved indoor air quality, proper use of resources and sensitivity to the environment.

The national real estate company’s pledge to LEED certification is significant given that it is one of the industry’s most prolific developers of logistics space in the United States. Over the past three years, Duke Realty’s new logistics development starts have surpassed 29.6 million square feet, representing an investment of $2.8 billion.

“By meeting the stringent criteria of LEED certification in every new development, we are helping ensure that the buildings we deliver are respectful of the environment and support our tenants’ sustainability objectives,” explained Jim Connor, Duke Realty’s Chairman and CEO. “Though many of our previously developed buildings incorporate sustainability practices or are LEED certified, we believe that it’s appropriate for us to take a more definitive stance on the importance of only adding buildings that reduce waste in landfills and conserve resources.”

Duke Realty’s commitment to only LEED certified development going forward follows the company’s announcement late last year of a $400 million green bond for the purpose of financing future or refinancing recently completed eligible green projects, making it the first industrial REIT to source funds solely for environmental friendly development in the United States.

“We are excited about this next step in our commitment to environmental responsibility. Duke Realty has been a longtime environmental steward, incorporating sustainable practices in new buildings we develop and retrofitting our existing properties for energy and water savings,” added Connor. “We also have been successful at redeveloping properties around the country, transforming under-utilized sites and functionally obsolete or environmentally contaminated properties into state-of-the-art logistics facilities. Undertaking LEED certification on all new developments projects was a natural next step for us.”