Third-Party Data Verification From: Nishtha Ghosh, CodeGreen Solutions To: Dana Schneider, Empire State Realty Trust Date: March 30, 2021 RE: Third Party Verification – Limited Assurance Scope
CodeGreen Solutions has conducted an independent third-party review of Empire State Realty Trust’s (ESRT) 2020 greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory with the intention of providing Limited Assurance of the submission’s accuracy and completeness. The scope of the review includes fuel, district steam and base building electricity, tenant sub-meter and tenant direct-meter electricity and emissions sources, as it applies to the selected reporting boundary of US operations under operational control. The objective of this Limited Assurance is to confirm data, controls, and processes supporting the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission calculations per Empire State Realty Trust’s GHG assertion according to the procedures set out in ISO 14064-3 2019 and GHG Protocol. The goal is to provide Limited Assurance using an independent third-party team within CodeGreen Solutions. The scope of this verification included verification of 14 properties within ESRT’s operational control. This statement should not be relied upon to detect all errors, omissions, or misstatements that may exist. Level of Assurance Level of assurance is used to determine the depth of detail that a Verification Body designs into the Verification Plan to determine if there are material errors, omissions, or misstatements in a company's GHG assertions. Three levels of review are generally recognized – Reasonable Assurance, Limited Assurance, and Checked Review. CodeGreen’s verification of ESRT’s GHG Emissions Inventory for calendar year 2020 was constructed to provide Limited Assurance. Roles and Responsibilities CodeGreen assigned an independent internal team to perform Limited Assurance in accordance with ISO 14064-3 2019 International Standard. The internal team performing this review has not contributed to the compilation of the Empire State Realty Trust’s 2020 performance summary. The verification team was chosen based on their competencies in understanding and calculating organizational greenhouse gas emissions, and in evaluating the effectiveness and accuracy of these statements. The GHG statement presented herein is the responsibility of the verification team. Additionally, an independent review of the verification plan, activities, and conclusion was performed. The independent review assessed the appropriateness of team competencies, whether the verification plan has been designed properly, whether all verification activities have been completed, significant decisions made during the verification, whether sufficient and appropriate evidence was collected to support the verification opinion, adherence to the ISO 14064-3 (2019) standard, and the final verification opinion. Methodology We completed our review in accordance with the ISO 14064 Part 3: Greenhouse Gases: Specification with guidance for the validation and verification of greenhouse gas assertions (ISO, 2019). As such, we planned and performed our work in order to provide Limited Assurance, rather than Reasonable Assurance or Externally Checked Review, with respect to the GHG assertion. We believe our work provides a reasonable basis for our conclusion. Data Set Review Level Date Range Energy Consumption Limited Assurance Jan 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020 GHG Emissions Limited Assurance Jan 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020 Water Consumption Limited Assurance Jan 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020 A materiality level of 5% was applied. The processes for performing the Limited Assurance of the submission are described as follows: Energy Consumption Data Energy data is entered into ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager based on invoices provided directly by the utility, and where applicable, electricity consumption data for the 2020 reporting period was based on Real Time Meter data from revenue grade meters. ESRT elected to utilize a combination of RTM data from a third-party metering vendor to ensure accuracy in reporting. Natural gas, steam, and fuel oil data was calculated directly from utility invoices. Tenant submetered electricity consumption is provided directly by third-party submeter providers. All energy data underwent third-party checks to ensure that data reported is as accurate and complete as reasonable. Based on CodeGreen’s Limited Assurance review, there is no evidence indicating that energy data submitted in public disclosures is not accurate and complete.
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