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| Liberty Property Trust Receives the "Leader in the Light" Awardfrom the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts |
Company recognized for leadership in sustainability for second consecutive year MALVERN, Pa., Nov 18, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Liberty Property Trust was honored this week with the "Leader in the Light - Gold Award" for Small and Midsize Cap Companies (under $4 billion) from NAREIT (National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts). The award - the highest level of achievement in the competition - recognizes Liberty's commitment to superior and sustained energy use management. NAREIT presents the Leader in the Light Awards in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR program. The award was presented at REITWorld 2011: NAREIT's Annual Convention for All Things REIT, held this year in Dallas. Liberty was honored for the second consecutive year, having been recognized in 2010 with an Honorable Mention in the competition. "REITs today are leaders in sustainability because they understand it isn't just good public relations - it's good business," said NAREIT Executive Vice President for Finance and Operations Sheldon Groner. "REITs recognize sustainability produces hard dollars-and-cents savings that are important in today's economic environment. For public companies, sustainability is an important issue for shareholders who have an expectation that the companies they invest in will manage their operations in an environmentally responsible manner." Since 2002, Liberty has invested $1.5 billion in sustainable development. The portfolio includes more than 10 million square feet of LEED certified buildings and more than 60 Energy Star certified buildings spanning nearly all of its 20 US markets. "Sustainability has been integral to Liberty's culture for more than a decade," said William P. Hankowsky, Liberty Chairman and CEO. "Whether we are developing new buildings or renovating existing ones, tracking real time energy use or using green cleaning techniques and products, we are focused on delivering and managing high performance buildings that save energy for the good of our tenants, the environment and the communities in which we operate." Across its portfolio, Liberty has already reduced energy consumption an average of 12.5% from its 2008 baseline in each of its managed buildings, allowing the company to pass along cost savings to its tenants. One of the ways it has been able to accomplish this is through the innovation and use of BWAN energy monitoring - its proprietary building wide area network - which allows the company to monitor real time energy use in the buildings in which it controls the delivery of electricity. This savings in energy to date equates to approximately $3.3M and over 30 million Kwh - the equivalent energy required to power 1,345 American homes. The company has also reduced greenhouse gas emissions by preventing 20,829 Metric Tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere - the equivalent of removing 4,084 vehicles from the road. The competition is judged by sustainable energy use experts from government, business and academia. The 2011 Leader in the Light Award judges were Michael Opitz, vice president, LEED, U.S. Green Building Council; David Stanford, president and CEO, Real Foundations; Mark Vorreuter, adjunct lecturer, Cornell University Program in Real Estate; and Maria Tikoff Vargas, director, Department of Energy Better Buildings Challenge. About Liberty Property Trust Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LRY) is a leader in commercial real estate, serving customers in the United States and United Kingdom, through the development, acquisition, ownership and management of superior office and industrial properties. Liberty's 78 million square foot portfolio includes nearly 700 properties which provide office, distribution and light manufacturing facilities to 1,900 tenants. For more information visit http://www.libertyproperty.com. SOURCE: Liberty Property Trust General Contact: |