Franklin Street Properties Corp. 2013 Annual Report
Creating Value Through Sustainability
As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.
- Henry David Thoreau
As we learn each day about our collective responsibility to our environment, FSP is committed to creating a pathway from our habits and repeating them to positively impact the environment. We are continuing to analyze FSP’s consumption and footprint as we look much more closely at our direct and indirect uses of natural resources. FSP continues to review our portfolio as we monitor each property’s consumption with goals of “taking only what you need” and “reducing what you need”.
The sustainability of our commercial real estate portfolio is an area of central importance to FSP. The measurement, benchmarking and analysis of the energy, water and waste consumption at our buildings provide valuable information that allows us to best target which assets will benefit most from applying additional sustainability measures and ultimately have the most positive impact on the environment and the Company.
FSP’s properties continue to be active participants in both the EPA’s ENERGY STAR program as well as the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) rating system. A significant percentage of FSP’s owned or asset-managed buildings have earned the ENERGY STAR label, denoting that their energy performance is among the top 25% of similar properties. Through LEED, many of FSP’s properties have been recognized for superior site and water management, material use and indoor environmental quality.
As part of FSP’s commitment to sustainability issues, the Company has formed a Sustainability Committee that is comprised of members of senior management, as well as a LEED AP. The Sustainability Committee is dedicated to creating and forming sustainability-related policies, goals, and practices for the Company and our properties. FSP aims to achieve both economic and community-based benefits from such efforts.
One product of FSP’s recent sustainability initiatives has been the implementation of a Demand Response Program. Participating properties identified short-term energy reduction measures that could be quickly implemented in the event of a grid emergency. In addition to helping to prevent local brownouts and reduce the need for future power generators, participating properties receive regular quarterly payments. FSP plans to expand participation in this program as grid operators and utilities open new demand response markets.
During the past year, FSP piloted a virtually real-time energy- monitoring program at six of our properties. Large amounts of electricity usage data are being analyzed by an energy analyst with the goal of finding greater operating efficiencies. The initial results have been very promising, and FSP is in the process of evaluating the program’s viability to roll out further across the portfolio.
Through the employment of modern technologies, participation in multiple benchmarking programs, as well as the sharing of best practices, FSP is provided with numerous opportunities for continuing improvement. Such measures support FSP’s objective of ongoing enhancement to our portfolio of commercial real estate in order to reduce our environmental footprint and maximize investor returns.